Persona 3 FES: Advent of the Fool
by Mattoon
Summary: A universe that was said to be complete... reset to continue to tell the same story again. But a new hero rises to combat the threat that the others encountered. A Wild Card, completely different from the others, will have to go through an entire year of Social Links and fighting Shadows. He will encouter challenges, both new and old. The time has come for the advent of the fool.
1. Prologue

_**LOADING…**_

 _ **LOADED.**_

* * *

 _ **"Time never waits.  
It delivers all equally to the same end.**_

 _ **You, who wish to safeguard the future  
however limited it may be...**_

 _ **You will be given one year.**_

 _ **Go forth without falter,  
with your heart as your guide..."**_

* * *

 _"Attention passengers. We are sincerely sorry for any inconvenience caused by the delay. The next stop is Iwatodai."_

The train's intercom blared as it approached its destination. However, its sole passenger barely heard the warning, being more engrossed in the music playing through his headphones. "Burn My Dread". Classic.

The brunette sighed as he saw a bright blue butterfly fly outside the window. Weird, but it wasn't the first time he saw that little thing, so he could let it slide. Realizing that his stop was next, the boy removed his headphones and stood up, checking the time on his phone.

11:58 PM.

"Dammit..." He muttered as the train came to a halt. The doors opened and he walked out, somewhat angrily. "It's almost Green Scream again..."

11:59 PM.

"Eh. Might as well wait until it starts. No need to rush, especially during _that_ time."

Tick...

Tick...

Tick...

 _ **CRASH!**_

And like that, the world around him went silent... and so did his headphones.

Everything around him was covered in a kind of dark green hue. Blood covered the floor and seemed to ooze out of every crack possible. Any source of water had been transformed into dark crimson blood. And where everyone once stood, a coffin stood tall, making the scenery look like something straight out of a horror film.

"Green Scream, you never cease to amaze me." The boy chuckled before walking out of the station, ignoring the putrid smell from the blood around him. "Now let's see here..." He took out a paper from his pocket. "Says here I'm supposed to go to the Kirijo Dorm..." He blinked. "Hehe... Kirijo... There's a name I haven't heard in a while." The brunette shrugged and straightened his orange jacket. "Well, no point in standing around thinking about it. At least this thing came with instructions on how to get there." He smiled before taking his first few steps into the city.

 _"Iwatodai..."_ The boy thought as he walked through the endless rows of coffins and blood. _"It's been years since I've been here... It may be Green Scream right now, but this place still brings back memories..."_

Both _good_ and _bad_. Very _very bad_.

He shook his head, repressing the horrifying memory. That was years ago. He didn't need to think about it anymore. "Keep it together man..." He muttered, stopping in front of a building. "Kirijo Dorm. Owned by the Kirijo Group itself." He chuckled. "Kinda hard to find something that isn't nowadays." He noticed an eerie dim illumination in the dorm, which puzzled him. "That's weird. I thought power wasn't supposed to work right now..."

He shrugged before opening the door and walking in. Sure enough, the room was lightly illuminated. The boy would've been lying if he said he didn't feel relieved seeing a color other than red and green during Green Scream.

"You're late."

The brunette nearly jumped out of his skin. Sitting on a desk in the room was a young boy, looking about nine or ten years old. He was dressed in a prison garb and stared at the brunette with an unnerving smile on his face.

 _"The heck?"_ The brunette thought. _"What's a kid doing here? More importantly, what's he doing awake during Green Scream?! Shouldn't he be a coffin?!"_

"I've been waiting for you for a long time." The kid said, only creeping the brunette out more. "If you want to proceed, then please sign here. It's a contract." The brunette blinked and looked over at what the boy was gesturing to. Next to him was a little red folder, with a single sheet of paper in it, with the fine print right above the signature line.

 _"I hath chooseth this fate of mine own free will. I shall take full responsibility of mine actions and the consequences to come from them."_

"...I'm not selling my soul to you, am I?" The child chuckled before handing the older boy a quill.

"Don't worry. There's no need to be scared." He said. "It only binds you to accepting full responsibility for your actions. You know, the usual stuff."

"Doesn't seem very usual to me..." The boy muttered, earning a giggle from the prison boy. "You're going to stay on my case until I sign this stupid thing, huh?"

"Yep."

The brunette sighed and grabbed the quill and dipped it in ink. He scribbled his signature on the paper. "Happy?"

The boy gave a another smile before taking the contract off the table. With a flick of his hand, it disappeared like a card in a magic trick.

"Trippy." The brunette said, impressed. "I know a little magic myself. What else can you do?" The child smiled. Even in the strange atmosphere, the child's smile didn't seem as frightening anymore. I'm fact, he looked... friendly.

"Oh, more than you can imagine." He smiled. "You know... no one can escape time. It delivers us all to the same end..." The brunette tilted his head, confused.

"Huh?" What the heck was that supposed to mean? "What are you talking about?"

"You can't plug your ears and cover your eyes..." The boy stepped back into the shadows. "And so it begins." The brunette tried to reach out to him, but he vanished, without a trace. The light shutting off at the same time made the scene look even scarier.

He could only stare where the boy once was.

"Just what was that about..." He whispered.

"Who's there?!"

The second jump of the day. The brunette muttered something under his breath before hearing footsteps. The boy glanced at the staircase where a girl in a pink cardigan came down, panting and looking at him as if he was a monster.

She was wearing a school uniform under her cardigan and had a red arm band with the word "S.E.E.S." written on it. An acronym? She had light brown hair like him and had big beautiful brown eyes.

The boy looked confused until he realized something.

She was awake during Green Scream.

"Another one?" He whispered. Just how many more people would he could be awake during this time?

"W-What?! W-Who are-?! She fumbled over her words as she stared at him. She took a step back as the two continued their staring contest.

"Um..." The brunette really didn't know what to say. The girl's legs trembled and sweat dripped down her cheeks. She looked terrified of something...

Was she afraid of him? What, was this the wrong dorm or something? Maybe she thought he was some kind of burglar or something. Either way, that didn't explain why she was so frightened or why she was awake during Green Scream! Besides, why was she afraid? She's the one with the gun!

Wait, what?!

The girl reached for the gun wrapped around her thigh. "H-Hey, wait!" He cried, but she didn't listen. "Hold on! Don't do anything crazy here!" She shakily grabbed the firearm, which had the word "S.E.E.S." engraved into it. She grabbed the handle with both hands and pointed it at-

Her forehead?!

"Woah! What are you doing?!" The boy yelled, hoping to stop her from doing something rash, insane and and just plain crazy. "Hold on-"

"Takeba! Wait!"

Both brunettes froze as a third voice was heard from the top of the stairs. One that practically dripped with authority.

And like that, the lights came back on. Which was good. The smell of blood was getting on the boy's nerves.

"Hello~ nurse..." The boy whispered as soon as he saw a red haired young woman walk down the stairs. She had a flawless figure and stood with a kind of royal elegance. A somewhat pale complexion, but nonetheless flawless skin. _"Plus she looks hot in that uniform!"_ The brunette girl looked at him strangely before turning her attention back to the woman.

"I didn't think you'd arrive so late." The redhead said. "My name is Misturu Kirijo. I'm one of the students who lives in this dorm."

 _"She lives here?"_ The boy thought before realization came over him. "Wait, Kirijo?"

Misturu nodded. "Yes. I am the granddaughter of Koetsu Kirijo, founder of the Kirijo Group."

...

The boy whistled. "Hot damn..."

"Who's he?" The brunette girl asked, gaining the others attention. The girl in the pink cardigan scanned the brunette boy.

There were lots of small details she didn't notice about him at first. First, there was his hair. He was a brunette, but he had these bright orange highlights in his hair. He had a pair of headphones around his neck and sunglasses sitting on top of his head. His eyes were olive green. He wore a bright orange jacket that seemed to glow a bit in the dark. The brown combat boots he was wearing were also a bit strange...

"'Sup!" He said, making the girl jump. "Nice to meet ya! My name's DJ." The girl in pink blinked.

"...DJ...-san?" She asked, looking over to the redhead. Mitsuru sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose.

"Yes... I remember the confusion that your name ended up bringing up..." She muttered, making the boy smirk. "He's a transfer student. It was a last decision to assign him to here. Although it was a bit difficult due to certain... circumstance. All your documents and files state your name as "DJKL", correct?"

"That's my name, don't wear it out! He smiled as the pink girl holstered her gun. "Or at least that's what my parents put on my birth certificate. I think it's an acronym for something, but I don't know... What about you?" The girl in pink jumped. "What's your name?"

"O-Oh!" She stuttered. "I-I'm Yukari Takeba... N-Nice to meet you."

"Takeba here will be a Junior this spring, like you." Mitsuru finished. DJ nodded.

"Okay... Question." He pointed at Yukari. "Why the heck do you have a gun and why the heck did you almost commit bloody suicide?" Yukari paled as DJ's gaze fixated on her.

"H-Huh?! Oh, um... Well" She twiddled her thumbs and averted his gaze. "it's sorta... like a hobby."

"A hobby?"

"It's for self-defense." Mitsuru stepped in, taking DJ's attention off of Yukari. "It's not a real gun, of course, but you know how it is these days." DJ raised an eyebrow. Did this woman think he was stupid?

Well, he obviously wasn't going to get an answer right now, so he might as well play along.

"Okay..." He paused. "Hey, is this a girls dorm?" He asked, looking around. "Or are there any other guys here?"

"No, this dorm is co-ed." Mitsuru explained. The boy blinked before a rather large and perverse grin crept up on his face, unnerving both girls. "This arrangement is only temporary though. You'll eventually be assigned to a boys dorm later." The grin fell.

"Aw man..." He muttered before sighing.

"Anyway, it's getting late." Mitsuru said. "You should get some rest. Your room is on the second floor, at the end of the hallway. Your things should already be there."

"Oh, I'll show you the way." Yukari said, finally building up courage to talk to the boy. "Follow me." DJ nodded and followed her up the stairs, walking past Mitsuru.

"..." He stayed silent as he felt her gaze on him. _"Either she's checking me out or she knows I don't believe her story... Either way, I know she's hiding something."_

"This is it." Yukari suddenly said, breaking him out of his thoughts. He had been so busy thinking about Mitsuru, he hadn't noticed that they already climbed up to the second floor.

 _"Not to self: Work on observational skills... And start paying more attention to cute girls."_ He thought. She handed him the room key. "Thanks."

"Don't mention it. It's pretty easy to remember, right? I mean, it is right at the end of the hall..." She perked up and smiled at him. "So, do you have any questions?"

He blinked. Before putting a hand on his chin. Could he get any information out of her? She seemed like a pretty bad liar, seeing how nervous she was earlier under pressure.

"Does that kid live here too?" DJ asked, earning a confused look from Yukari.

"Kid?"

"Yeah, the kid in the prison get up." He said, confusing her even more. "The one who made me sign that contract. Does he live here?" Yukari glared and crossed her arms.

"If this is a joke, it's not very funny." She said, making the boy gulp. One thing he learned from this experience: Women in Iwatodai are terrifying.

"U-um... F-Forget it... It's nothing." DJ unlocked his door and stepped in.

"Hey." Yukari's voice made him turn around. "On your way here from the station, was everything… okay?" She asked. DJ froze. Should he tell her about Green Scream? She _was_ awake during it, so it probably wouldn't hurt to let her know either…

Nah. Best keep it a secret for now.

"Nothing I haven't lived through before." He answered. It wasn't a lie, he had been in Green Scream many many times before. Yukari seemed a bit puzzled by the answer, but nodded.

"Oh. Okay." She said, turning around to leave. "Well, I um… Guess I'll see you around DJ-san."

"Night Takeba-san." He said making her turn around. She blinked.

"Y-You don' have to call me that DJ-san." She said "Just Yukari is fine. We're living in the same dorm so... We might as well try to be friends." DJ nodded.

"Friends huh..." He started, looking at her. It was a but weird, especially with what happened earlier, but... she looked sincere enough. And cute too. He couldn't say no to a face like that. He smiled at her. "I like the sound of that. Good night Yukari-san." She smiled back.

"Good night DJ-san." She said before turning around to walk away. DJ smiled and walked into his room, shutting the door behind him. He glanced around his new dormitory.

It wasn't huge, but it certainly wasn't small. All of his stuff was already there, packaged in several boxes by the wall. The dorm had pretty much everything he needed though. There was a desk, the bed, a bathroom.

"Hey, this place isn't that bad." He said, looking around. "Could use a little redecorating though. "I wonder if I can put my old turntable here... Probably have to ask permission first. Plus there's sending issues..." He shrugged. "Oh well." He took off his headphones and his sunglasses, placing them on the desk. "Might as well get some rest."

It took a while to find his clothes in the middle of his stuff, but once he found clothes good for sleeping, he quickly changed and hopped onto the bed. He sighed and stared out the window. The city looked so lively, even though it was the 12:12 AM in the morning. Then again, anytime was livelier than the time that happened nearly ten minutes ago.

"DJ..." He sighed covering himself up.

"Welcome back to Iwatodai."

* * *

 **Persona 3 FES:  
"Advent of the Fool"**

 _ **PLEASE, TYPE YOUR NAME:  
"DJKL"**_

 _ **SELECT YOUR DIFFICULTY:  
NORMAL  
EASY  
HARD -  
**_

 _ **HARD MODE IS A CHALLENGING EXPERIENCE THAT WILL PUT EVEN THE MOST EXPERIENCED GAMER TO THE TEST.**_ _ **ARE**_ _ **YOU SURE YOU WISH TO PLAY ON THIS MODE?  
YES -  
NO**_

 _ **THANK YOU FOR CHOOSING TO PLAY PERSONA 3 FES: "ADVENT OF THE FOOL".  
IN THIS GAME, YOU CAN TRANSFER YOUR DATA FROM PREVIOUS PERSONA GAMES INTO THIS ONE. WOULD YOU LIKE TO TRANSFER YOUR PERSONA 3 AND/OR PERSONA 3 FES DATA?  
YES**_ _ **  
**_ _ **NO -**_

 _ **ARE YOU SURE?  
YES -  
NO**_

 _ **SAVING...  
SAVED.**_

 _ **GOOD LUCK ON YOUR JOURNEY AND ENJOY THE EXPERIENCE!**_


	2. The Journey: Part I

_**Persona 3 FES:  
"Advent of the Fool"**_

 _ **LOAD DATA  
1\. DATE: 4/7 (Tu) Kirijo Dorm  
PLV 1 - DJKL**_

 _ **LOAD THIS GAME?  
YES -  
NO**_

 _ **LOADING...**_

 _ **LOADED.**_

* * *

 _ **4/7 (Tu) - EARLY MORNING  
FULL MOON IN: 2  
**_

* * *

 _"Okay, let's see here..."_ DJ thought at he stared at his reflection in the mirror. _"Uniform's on... I got my jacket... Hm... Something's missing..."_ He narrowed his eyes at his reflection. He was wearing his Gekkoukan High uniform, albeit with his bright orange jack thrown over it and his sunglasses sat on the top of his head. Still, it felt like he was forgetting something...

"My headphones!" He realized. Geez, how could he had forgotten something so _mandatory_? After a quick dash towards his desk, his headphones now hung around his neck, completing his look. "That's better." He smiled at his reflection.

"Gekkoukan High... I always dreamed of coming here one day." He shook his head and sighed. "I bet mom and dad would be proud..." A knock on his door brought him out of his thoughts.

"Hey! It's Yukari." She said on the other side. "Are you awake?"

"I'm up. And the door's open by the way." DJ said. Seconds later, the door opened and Yukari walked in with a large smile on her face. "Morning Yukari-san."

"Good morning DJ-kun!" She said, still smiling. She was already dressed in her uniform too. "Did you sleep okay?" The boy shrugged.

"Meh. I've had better nights..." He replied, yawning slightly. "I didn't manage to get much sleep... Kept waking up every now and then." Yukari frowned.

"Man, that must suck..." She said.

"Don't worry, I'll live." He said, making her laugh. "What are you doing here anyway? Came to check up on me?" Yukari shook her head.

"Actually, Mitsuru-senpai asked me to take you to school." She explained, making the boy blink. "It's getting late so... Are you ready to go?"

"Just finished getting things ready actually." He said, grabbing his bag off the desk. "I'm all set for the new school year." DJ tapped his foot twice and smiled at the girl, who smiled back.

"Okay. Let's go." She said, walking out of the room, DJ following her. "You're going to love Gekkoukan, I can tell you that much." DJ chuckled.

"No reason to doubt that." He said as the two walked down the stairs.. "I've wanted to go to Gekkoukan since I was a kid. This is a dream come true. Though this is a lot better than how I imagined it." Yukari looked at him, puzzled.

"Why?" She asked, only for DJ's grin to grow.

"Because" He wrapped an arm around Yukari's shoulders and pulled her closer to him. "I get to walk to school with a cute girl by my side!"

"H-Hey!" She yelled, immediately slapping his arm away. "D-Don't do that!" DJ chuckled. Her face lit up like candle and his laughing only made it worse. She glared at him. "Is that why you were smiling when you heard that the dorm was co-ed?" The boy blinked before a sheepish smile appeared on his face. Yukari scoffed. "Pervert..." She muttered, storming past him.

"Oh come on Yukari-san..." He said, running to catch up with her. "I was just playing around. I didn't mean to get you angry..." She glared at him before sighing.

"Fine." She muttered. "Just don't try something like that again." DJ nodded before quickly dashing to the front door. He opened it and gestured for her to go.

"After you ma'am." He said with a smile. Yukari chuckled and walked past him. "Does that make up for what I did earlier?"

"Not by a long shot." Yukari laughed when she saw him pout. "But it's a start."

DJ laughed. "Whew! That's a relief." He said, catching up with her. The two started walking together. "For a second there I thought you were gonna pull that gun on me again." Yukari froze. Noticing that he had gotten ahead of her, DJ turned around.

Yukari was staring at him, looking completely mortified. DJ gulped and walked back to her.

"H-Hey... Come on Yukari-san. " He tried comforting her, but she still wouldn't budge. She had her head slumped down, her eyes being shadowed by her hair. "I know it's fake... No need to get so worked up about it..."

"...Hey..." She said suddenly, startling him. She looked up at him, straight in the eye. "Don't tell anyone about that... Okay?" DJ blinked.

"Um... Okay." He said, surprising her. "If you don't want anyone to know you carry around a fake gun for self defense, that's fine by me." _"Although, I still don't buy that story... Still, I got to say something to cheer her up. Plus I'm still playing dumb about the whole 'Green Scream' incident..."_ Yukari smiled and skipped ahead of him.

"Thanks DJ-kun..." She turned around and walked in, DJ right behind her. "Now come on! We're gonna miss the monorail!" Now it was DJ's turn to stop.

"Monorail?" He asked. "What monorail?"

* * *

"Holy crap, this thing is awesome!"

Yukari wasn't sure whether she should laugh or sweatdrop at the orange clad boys actions. He had his face pressed against the monorail's window, gazing at the endless blue ocean in front of him.

"Man, it's like we're hovering over the water!" He said, earning awkward stares from everyone.

"U-Uh... DJ-kun? Everyone's staring." Yukari said, snapping him out of his little moment. She was right. Lot's of people were looking at him as if he had grown a second head. He rolled his eyes and kept looking out the window.

"Let them stare. I couldn't care less! This view is amazing!" Yukari sighed, though she couldn't help but smile a little. He kinda reminded her of her first day at Gekkoukan.

"It's pretty beautiful, isn't it..." She sighed, staring off into the ocean.

"..." DJ stayed silent and glanced at Yukari... She really did look pretty when she wasn't on edge or angry. _"You sure are..."_ He wanted to say, but decided against it. "So when do we get to Gekkoukan?" Yukari looked at him and smiled.

"Not long now. In fact, look!" She said. DJ complied and turned around, only to see a large island coming into view. He whistled at the sight.

"Hot damn!" He said, admiring the island. "Would you look at that..." He turned to Yukari. "And all this is owned by the Kirijo Group, right?" The girl nodded. "Hot damn... So which one's Gekkoukan?"

"All of it."

"Wha- Za?!"

* * *

"Humunahumunahumunahumunahumunahumunahumuna..." DJ... chanted as he and Yukari walked towards the main school building. They weren't even passed the gates, but DJ could already see just how massive the school was. Dozens, no, hundreds of students walked by them, several greeting Yukari as they kept walking. "This place is huge... There are even Cherry Blossoms here... I knew it was big compared to other schools, but I didn't it was _this_ big!"

Yukari giggled as the two reached the gate. DJ stopped as the gate, staring at the immense schoolyard. Yukari turned around and smiled at him.

"Welcome to Gekkoukan High School!" She said, the sun shining pleasantly on her face, which only made her look even more beautiful. "Hope you like it!" DJ felt himself blush as he stared at her. She looked so...

"Perfect..." He whispered, though Yukari didn't hear him. A large smile crept up his face. "I like it already..." Yukari smiled and gestured for him to follow.

"Well, come on! Let's go!" DJ nodded and ran towards her. The two walked together, Yukari making an occasional comment at DJ's childish behavior. He shrugged it off and laughed, saying he had the right to act the way he wanted, social opinions be damned, earning a laugh from Yukari.

Now he wasn't sure why, but he could've sworn he saw an entire battalion of male students glare at him and a bunch of female student casting glances at him and Yukari. Jealous much? DJ felt himself smirk as he and Yukari walked into the building.

 _"First day and people are already talking about me."_ He thought, enjoying the attention he was getting. _"I can already tell this is gonna be one hell of a school year!"_

"You're okay from here, right?" Yukari asked, getting the brunette boys attention. He nodded in response. "You should see your homeroom teacher first. The faculty office is right there to the left."

"Thanks Yukari-san." He said, looking around. "But I think I should find out what class I'm in though..."

"Oh. Okay. I think the classroom assignments are on the bulletin board..." Yukari's expression fell and she nervously glanced at the floor. "H-Hey..." She looked up to see his curious expression. "About last night... Don't tell anyone what you saw... Okay?" DJ sighed.

"Relax Yukari-san, I'm not gonna say anything." He raised one hand and put the other on his heart. "Disk Jockeys Honor." Yukari raised an eyebrow.

"You're a _real_ DJ?" She asked incredulously.

"I was named DJ by my parents. I figured it would make sense if I actually became one." He shrugged. "Though there was the time I wanted to be a psychiatrist..." Yukari blinked before giggling. The thought of DJ dressed in a suit and being called "Dr. DJ" seemed hilarious.

"Hehe. That's kind of hard to imagine." She said, earning a pout from the boy. "Well, I have some things to take care of... See ya later DJ-kun!" Yukari turned around and started walking.

"Well, that went well." He said to himself, watching the girl walk away. "Now, where's that bulletin board..." After finding the blue board, DJ managed to find his name under Class 2-F, with his homeroom teacher being someone named Ms. Toriumi. If this was his old school, someone would've made some joke on how his class name was a pun on the English word "Fail". _"Wait... Dammit!"_ Afterwards DJ figured it would be best to go to the faculty office and talk to his homeroom teacher like Yukari said.

On his way there, DJ couldn't help but eavesdrop on some of the conversations going on. The first was when he was still at the bulletin board. Some guy was complaining about how he had gotten Ms. Toriumi as his homeroom teacher. _"Now normally I'd randomly say 'Sucks to be you' just to be a jerk, but seeing as we're in the same class..."_ Then there was this cute _"Hot damn! This school is full of hotties!"_ dark skinned girl talking to a guy in a P.E. uniform. Her boyfriend maybe? They seemed to be getting along pretty we- _"Nope, scratch that. They're arguing."_

The last one was a bit.. weird. Even for DJ's standards. It was some guy in suit wearing a samurai helmet talking to a blonde kid with carrying a fan. The man was talking about being teaching the kid how to be... a samurai? And the kid was agreeing with him?! _"Well, Gekkoukan is a big school... There's bound to be a few nutjobs in the bunch."_

DJ sighed as he opened the door to the faculty room. "I wonder what my homeroom teacher's like..." DJ thought before noticing a woman in a pink suit walk up to him. _"Hello~ nurse, she's hot!"_

"Oh, are you the new student?" DJ nodded. The woman looked at a file in her hands. "Let's see... 11th grade..." She raised an eyebrow. "DJKL?"

"I-It's... complicated..." He admitted. "I think it's an acronym for something. I don't know." She looked at him strangely before sighing.

"Alright then..." She looked through the file again. "Wow, you've lived in lots of different places."

"Yeah... Oji-san likes to moves a lot..." He muttered. It technically was true. His grandfather wasn't one to stay in one place for long.

"Hmm... What else... Oh, here." She said, finding something on the paper. "In 1999... What was that, ten years ago?" Oh crud. "Your parents-" DJ grimaced when he heard her gasp. "I'm sorry... I've been so busy, I didn't have time to read this beforehand." DJ sighed.

"Eh... Don't be." He said, waving his hand. "That was years ago. No use crying over it now. Still, thanks for the consideration."

"You're welcome!" She said. "I'm Ms. Toriumi. I teach Composition. Welcome to our school." The disk jockey blinked.

"Ms Toriumi? Hey, aren't you my homeroom teacher?" The teacher laughed and nodded.

"That's right. You're in Class 2-F. That's my class." She said. "But first, we need to get to the auditorium."

"Let me guess. Welcoming Ceremony?" Ms. Toriumi nodded, earning a sigh I'm return. "Figures... Alright then. Lead the way ma'am." _"Who knows? Given Gekkoukan's reputation, maybe the ceremony won't be so boring!"_

* * *

He was wrong.

Oh so horribly wrong.

The moment the principal started talking, DJ already had to fight to stay awake. Honestly, what was with this guy? Running his mouth like that... He could tell lots of people shared his sentiments, but he was feeling too sleepy to make some kind of snarky comment.

"Must... Resist... Sleep..." He muttered, his head drooping a bit more with each word. He shot back up and shook his head. "Mustn't sleep! I sleep and I get in trouble. I get in trouble and Oji-san's gonna have my hide!" His eye twitched as the many memories of his grandfather's... somewhat extreme methods of disciplining him rushed to his head. "Stay... Awake..."

"Psst... Hey..." DJ jumped when he felt someone tap his shoulder. Behind him was a male student student who looked like he wanted something. "You came to school with Yukari this morning, right?" DJ raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah? So?"

"I was just wondering... Do you know if she has a boyfriend?" DJ blinked before deadpanning. Go figure. This guy was obviously just wanting to get into Yukari's panties. He sighed before shaking his head.

"No idea." He answered honestly. "I met the girl yesterday. Don't know much about her yet."

"Eh? Really?" The boy asked, raising his eyebrows. DJ was about to respond until some teacher overheard them and then Ms. Toriumi berated them for almost getting her in trouble.

At least the whole thing kept DJ from falling asleep.

* * *

 _ **4/7 (Tu) - AFTER SCHOOL  
**_

* * *

Now DJ couldn't say that he didn't expect the classes themselves to be boring. It's common knowledge that any school, be it fancy or not was bound to be boring to it's students. The day wasn't _that_ bad mind you, just a quick introduction to some of his teachers. Nonetheless, DJ wouldn't mind if something different happened right about now.

DJ chuckled as he got up. _"Like what? Some loser walk up to me and try to make friends with me, pretending to be all cool until someone like Yukari knocks him off his high horse? Yeah right."_

"'Sup dude!" DJ stopped in his tracks when a guy wearing a baseball cap walked over to him and greeted him.

 _"...Just a coincidence DJ... Just a coincidence..."_ He shook his head and greeted him back.

"How's it going?" The boy in the cap asked, only making DJ feel awkward.

"Umm... Fine, I guess?" He really didn't know where this conversation was heading. "Uh... Who are you?"

"Me? I'm Junpei Iori! Nice to meet ya!" He introduced himself. "I transferred here when I was in 8th grade, so I know how tough it is bein' the new kid. So I wanted to say "hey". See what I nice guy I am?" DJ blinked. That was... surprisingly noble of this guy.

"Um... Thanks Junpei!" The two shook hands. "I'm DJ. It's nice to meet you." Junpei looked confused.

"DJ?"

"Don't ask..."

"Okay... Hey, it's Yuka-tan!" DJ raised an eyebrow and looked at where Junpei was gesturing too. Sure enough, Yukari was making her way towards the two. "I didn't think we'd be in the same class again!"

"...Okay, I have got to stop predicting the future..." DJ muttered. Thankfully the other two didn't hear him.

"At it again? I swear, you'll talk to anyone if they'll listen." Yukari muttered, evidently hurting Junpei's pride. "Did you ever think you might be bothering someone?"

 _"Ouch! I can feel the pain from here!"_ DJ thought as he noticed Junpei wince. _"Might as well try to help him out."_

"Don't be like that Yukari-san." DJ said. "He was just trying to be friendly." Yukari glanced at him and sighed.

"If you say so..." She said before breaking out into a smile. "Anyway, looks like we're in the same homeroom..."

"I know. Guess you could call it fate!" DJ joked, earning a small laugh from Yukari.

"I don't know if I'd call it that," She started. "but it is a pretty big coincidence."

"Uh, hello? I'm in this class too, ya know?" Junpei said, but was ignored by his two classmates. He sighed before an idea formed in his head. "By the way, I heard you two came to school together this morning. What's up with that?" Yukari froze and blushed.

"Wh-What! What are you talking about?! We live in the same dorm. That's it." Yukari glared at Junpei, who shrunk in his spot. "Why are people even talking about that?! Now you have me worried..." She bit her lip and glanced at DJ, who returned her gaze looking confused.

"What's up?" He asked. Seeing her gulp made him quirk an eyebrow.

"Y-You... didn't tell anyone anything about..." She shuffled her feet. "you know what, right?" DJ raised an eyebrow before glancing at Junpei. The capped idiot looked as confused as Hell. DJ only knew the guy for about five minutes, but was it really a good idea to talk about this in front of _him_ of all people?

"Nope. Not a word." He said, earning a smile from Yukari. He let out a breath of relief he didn't even know he was holding in when he saw that Junpei didn't misinterpret whatever Yukari was saying as something... naughty. _"Not that I'd mind or anything."_

"Whew..." Yukari looked up at him. "Seriously... Don't say anything about last night." DJ didn't know whether to facepalm at the blatant implications of what Yukari just said or to laugh at the look of pure astonishment on Junpei face.

"L-Last night?!" He squeaked, instantly getting Yukari's attention. DJ couldn't help but laugh as Yukari yelled at him for misunderstanding. It was like watching an old married couple. He missed most of the conversation, but did manage to see Yukari storm off, her face as red as a cherry.

Junpei sighed. "Ah, who cares? No one takes rumors seriously, anyway."

"You can't really blame her Iori-san." DJ said. "She just doesn't want people to make an image of her on the first day." Junpei shrugged and put an arm around his shoulder.

"Hey, you can just call me Junpei, 'kay? And you mean like you?" He said with a smirk. "It's only your first day and people are already talkin' about you! Believe it or not, she's pretty popular around here. So imagine everyone's surprise when they saw her walking together with the new student." DJ smirked and got out of his grip.

"It is my gift and it is my curse." He said. The two laughed and started walking out of class. "So, you excited for the rest of the year?

"Are you kiddin'?" He asked laughing. "Things have already gotten a lot more interesting than last year and it's only been a day! This is gonna be a fun year! I can feel it!"

* * *

 _ **4/7 (Tu) - EVENING  
**_

* * *

"I'm back!" DJ shouted as he stepped back into the dorm. It took awhile to get back, he had to ask for directions every now and then, but at least he finally made it back. "'Sup people!" He greeted Yukari and...

Some sophisticated looking guy in a suit. One who was staring at him with an amused look on his face.

"Um... Hi?" DJ said, earning a laugh from the man.

"So this is our new guest." He said, getting up from the couch. "Good evening. My name is Shuji Ikutsuki. I'm the Chairman of the board for your school." The two shared a handshake.

"Nice to meet you Ikutku- Iku- I'm sorry, how do you pronounce that again?" The Chairman laughed and pushed his glasses into place.

"Hehe... 'Ikutsuki'." He muttered. "Hard to say isn't it? That's why I don't like introducing myself. Even I get tongue-tied myself..." DJ raised an eyebrow and leaned over to Yukari.

"Is this nut _really_ the Chairman of the Board?" He ask, to which Yukari just shrugged.

"I found it hard to believe myself, actually..." She admitted, casting a glance at Shuji.

"Please, have a seat." Shuji motioned for the two to sit down, which they complied. "First, I'd like to apologize for the confusion regarding your accommodations."

"My what?"

"Sorry for not having a dorm ready for you yet."

"Oh." DJ deadpanned. He heard Yukari giggle at his expense, but he shrugged it off.

"It will take a while to give you a proper room assignment, so until then, feel free to stay here." He clapped his hands and looked at DJ with a smile. "Now, is there anything you'd like to ask?

"Not really..." He said, thinking a little. Wait, what if... "Actually, there is one thing."

"Hm?"

"On my way here last night I saw something... strange." With that, Yukari visibly paled and looked at him with wide eyes. Ikutsuki on the other hand seemed rather expressionless, other than a slight eyebrow raise. _"Come on! Give me something to let me know you're faking it!"_ He stared at Ikutsuki, griping the edge of his seat. At first he looked completely normal...

That is, until he noticed a bead of sweat go down his forehead.

 _"Bingo."_ He smirked. So this guy knew about Green Scream too! Maybe now he could get some answers!

Ikutsuki waved away the thought. "You were probably just tired, don't put much thought into it."

 _"Oh, come on!"_ DJ's eye twitched and and his grip on the couch tightened. "Y-Yeah! Probably..."

"Well, if that's all, then I must take my leave." Shuji said, standing up." You must be tired from all the excitement from your first day. You should go to bed early. As they say, 'The early bird catches the bookworm!'"

DJ unconsciously clutched his chest. That pun just made part of him die inside. Yukari sighed as the Chairman left.

"Don't worry, you'll get used to his lame jokes..."

"I sure as hell hope not! That pun of his made me go through cardiac arrest!"

* * *

 _ **4/7 (Tu) - "GREEN SCREAM"  
**_

* * *

Mitsuru sighed as she stared at the monitor. DJ was already asleep, snoozing away peacefully in his bed as Mitsuru watched him.

This boy... "DJKL", as he called himself. Obviously a false alias, no matter how convincing his documents may seem. How he managed to pull something like that off was beyond her, but really, what could she do about it? She tried locating his _original_ documents to see if she could find any info, but no avail. He was keeping his name a secret from them, but why?

What's more is that there's something... awkward about the boy. He seemed aware of the Dark Hour and had even seemed skeptical at her explanations... so why hadn't he mentioned it to them yet?

Any normal persona would've freaked out and ask someone about why everyone would suddenly turn into coffins every night, but he seemed so... _relaxed_. How was that even possible? He didn't even show any signs of memory loss or disorientation. He was one hundred percent normal.

And to top it all off, there was something about him that felt... _familiar_.

"Hey, I'm going out for a bit." A male voice behind her spoke. Mitsuru turned around with her eyebrow raised. "Didn't you see the newspaper? There's a lot going on." Mitsuru sighed.

"I know..." She muttered. "People who had no problems before are suddenly developing acute cases of **Apathy Syndrome**." She spoke that last part as it was poison in her mouth. "I've seen it in the news a lot lately. They say it's due to stress but..."

"Yeah right." The man said, cracking his knuckles. "It has to be _them._ Otherwise, it's not worth my time..." Mitsuru rolled her eyes and turned back to the monitor.

"You have such a one track mind..." She whispered. "Will you be okay on your own? The Chairman is staying here for the next few days, but after that I can..."

"Don't worry about it." The man said, waving it off. "I'm just getting a little practice." With that the man turned around and left, leaving the redhead alone. She sighed in frustration and glanced back at the monitor.

"This isn't a game Akihiko..."

* * *

 _ **4/8 (Wed) - EARLY MORNING  
FULL MOON IN: 1  
**_

* * *

"What do ya know? That kook of a Chairman was right." DJ muttered as he walked towards the school gate. "I've never been this early to school. I guess he's not so bad once you start ignoring the awful puns..."

"Did you hear the rumor...?" DJ stopped walking and blinked. Next to him, to girls looked like they were gossiping... About him maybe? It wouldn't hurt to overhear...

"Oh, um..." The girls friend fumbled over her words. "Uh... something about... a bathroom?" The first girl raised an eyebrow.

"N-No! Not that one! I mean the story about the first-year student!"

 _"First-year student?"_ DJ thought. So it wasn't about him, but he couldn't help but feel curious now.

"Not only did she stop coming to school, she does nothing but at and stare at the wall all day!" DJ raised an eyebrow while the girls friend looked spooked. "If her mother tries to talk to her, she only mutters to herself. 'It's coming... It's coming...!"

"Kn-Knock it off! You're creeping me out here!" DJ rolled his eyes and walked forward.

 _"Trippy... It's sounds kinda like that Apathy Syndrome thing people have been coming up with... At least the girl isn't a_ _ **complete**_ _vegetable."_ He shrugged and kept moving. No use in worrying about it now. He needed to get to class.

* * *

 _ **4/8 (Wed) - LATE NIGHT  
**_

* * *

DJ sighed as he plopped himself into his bed. The day had been... eventful. His actual classes had finally started today, and like every year, he was bored out of his mind during classes. It's not that he didn't like school, it was just... boring. At least he managed to pay enough attention to help Junpei out of a spot. It was pretty easy too, considering the fact that Ms. Toriumi was the one teaching. DJ would not mind spending a few hours looking at her pretty face.

"Let's see here..." He mumbled, grabbing his cellphone. "I still have about an hour before Green Scream, but I'm not tired enough to sleep. I can't use my laptop because there's no internet here yet, so that leaves me with either books, homework or video games..." DJ sat up and glanced at the three respective items on his desk. A large piles of English literature books he got from his grandfather, like '20,000 Leagues Under the Sea' and 'Dracula', his school bag and a flame red Nintendo 3DS XL.

"...Video games."

* * *

"So, how's he doing?" Shuji asked as he walked into the Command Room. Mitsuru and Yukari were there, both watching DJ tap away at his 3DS, who would occasionally make some remark on how his "Little Mac" character was "a beast despite his crappy air game." Whatever that meant.

"He's just playing a video game..." Yukari muttered, watching him play as Mitsuru groaned. "Nothing wrong about that..." Ikutsuki scratched his chin and sat down.

"Chairman..." Mitsuru started. "Do you think he's...?"

"Well, let's wait and see for now." Ikutsuki said, glancing at his watch. "The Dark Hour is approaching."

Tick...

Tick...

Tick...

 _ **CRASH!**_

* * *

 _ **4/8 (Wed) - DARK HOUR  
**_

* * *

"NOOOOOOOOOOOoooooooo~" DJ cried, spooking everyone. The three turned around to the monitor, fearing something might've happened to the boy... only to see him crying in fetal position, his 3DS turned off in front of him. "I was just about to beat Master Core on 9.0! With Little Mac for God's sake!" He raised his hands into the air. "Why does this always happen to me?!"

The three watching him sweatdropped.

"...He's kidding, right?" Yukari asked, though she didn't get any answer from the other two.

"Hm... This is very... _interesting_." Ikutsuki muttered.

"Why does Green Scream always happen when I get in the zone?!" DJ said on the monitor, which got their attention. "I knew it was gonna happen in a bit, but I figured I'd manage to finish Classic Mode..." He sighed and closed his 3DS. "I should've picked the books. At least they don't turn off during Green Scream..."

"Green... Scream?" Misturu asked no one in particular. The other two looked equally confused.

"Well, this new..." Ikutsuki said, getting the girls' attention. "It would appear that our new guest is aware of the hidden hour... and has even given it a name of his own."

"But..." Yukari started, looking at DJ through the monitor. "How is that possible...?"

"I'm not entirely sure..." Ikutsuki muttered before sitting up. "Regardless, it makes our job easier. Not only does he know about it, he doesn't seem to be showing any signs of disorientation or memory loss. All that's left is to see if he has **the potential**." He glanced at DJ, who was now reading a book under his covers. "We should continue to monitor him for a few days."

"...Yes sir." Mitsuru said. She was still confused as to how he acted during the Dark Hour. He had only experienced it once. How could he act so nonchalantly in it?

"I feel kind of bad though, spying on him like this..." Yukari muttered. As confused as she was, she still didn't want to drag DJ in to this mess. He was a bit strange, but he was still a nice guy. Too nice to get sucked into a problem like this.

* * *

Blue.

That's the first thing DJ saw once he fell asleep. Blue, blue and lots more blue. One moment he was floating above a sea of blue tiles. The next a large blue door opened up in front of him, sucking him in like a whirlpool.

How long had he been sitting down? He was sure he was floating a few seconds ago... Or was it hours? He shook his head and opened his eyes, only to see more blue. The blue room he was in kept rising up like a kind of never ending elevator. The soft sound of opera music reached his ears and made the whole place look so... relaxing.

And how long has that table been there? At the end of the azure room, DJ saw a large blue table, and large blue chair in front if him. Sitting in the chair was... An old man. Or was he some kind of monster. His eyes were large and bloodshot, and they stared at him with... curiosity? And his nose, dear God, his nose... That abomination was huge!

At both his sides DJ saw two platinum blondes, one male and the other female, watching him with even more curiosity than the old man. But their curiosity seemed more... innocent. They seemed to look at him as if he was a present on Christmas day. They were both wearing a strange blue attire, reminiscent of elevator attendants.

 _"Is that why I'm in some kind of elevator...?"_ DJ thought groggily. God, his head hurt... Where was he? Was this a dream? And what was with that huge clock behind the old man? And were they really moving? Everything seemed so confusing as DJ tried to wrap his head around what was happening.

And then the old man smiled.

"Welcome to the _**Velvet Room**_..."

* * *

 _ **SAVE GAME?  
YES -  
NO**_

 _ **SAVING...**_

 _ **SAVED.**_


	3. The Journey: Part II

_**Persona 3 FES:  
"Advent of the Fool"**_

 _ **LOAD DATA  
1\. DATE: 4/8 (Wed) Velvet Room  
PLV 1 - DJKL**_

 _ **LOAD THIS GAME?  
YES -  
NO**_

 _ **LOADING...**_

 _ **LOADED.**_

* * *

"Welcome to the _**Velvet Room**_..."

DJ rubbed his eyes, trying to stay awake. He felt so tired, yet... relaxed at the same time. He glanced at the three figures in front of him, the old man and the two attendants...

"What...? What is this?" DJ asked earning a large grin from the old man. "Who are you guys...?"

"My name is Igor." The old man spoke. His voice was so... strange. It sounded like he was excited about something. "I am _delighted_ to make your acquaintance." He gestured to the two people beside him. "These two are Elizabeth and Theodore... They are both residents here, like myself."

"Pleased to meet you." The woman, Elizabeth, said, her golden eyes staring into DJ's. The looked... hungry. Like she wanted something from him.

"It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance." Theodore said. He looked much less predatory than Elizabeth, but still seemed to stare at DJ like he was Santa Claus or something.

"Where am I?" DJ asked, looking around the blue elevator. "And how'd I get here anyway?" Igor's smile grew larger, if that was even possible.

"This place exists between dream and reality, mind and matter." Igor said, snapping his fingers. "It's been _years_ since we've had a guest."

"Dream and rea- Am I asleep?" DJ asked, sitting up. The drowsiness he felt a while ago was already starting to fade. Although, there was something about Igor that just seemed... terrifying.

"In a way, yes." Igor explained. "But fear not. Soon, you shall be able to come to the Velvet Room on your own accord." DJ raised an eyebrow and looked at the tab- Wait, since when was that folder there? It looked like... "Only those who have signed **the contract** can enter this place... Henceforth, you shall be welcome here in the Velvet Room."

"H-Hey that's-" DJ stared at the contents of the folder with wide eyes. It was the same document he had signed when he got to the dorm. "Does that mean that kid's here too?!" Igor and his two assistants chuckled.

"All in good time, my guest..." He waved his hand, closing the folder. "You are destined to hone your unique ability, and you will require my help to do so."

"Uni- 'The hell are you talking about old man?!" DJ tried to get up from the chair he was in, but it felt like something was holding him back. "What's going on?!" Igor smile widened.

"Hehe! Never before have I seen a guest like you, my dear boy." He laughed, Elizabeth and Theodore seemed to agree with him. "All shall be explained in time and you shall see why you require my assistance. I only ask one thing in return."

"Oh crap, I really did sell my soul didn't I?!" DJ shouted, leaning back as far as he could. "That kid swindled me!"

"Nothing of the sorts child." Igor said, silencing him. "All I ask is that you abide by the contract and assume responsibility for the choices you make."

"I-I... I still don't understand..." DJ looked around, a dark feeling in his gut. One hadn't felt in years since his parents death. _Fear_. "I'm so confused..."

"Worry not child." Igor said, looking at DJ with those bloodshot eyes of his. "Your future is different than those who came before you... Here, take this." DJ looked confused before having to shield his eyes from a bright blue light that appeared out of nowhere. It descended in front of him, before dropping into his hand.

"What...?" DJ muttered as the light died down. In his hand was a glowing velvet key.

"'Till we meet again." Was the last thing he heard before feeling something pull him back.

"N-No! Wait! I still don't-" He couldn't say any more as his entire world went dark.

* * *

 _ **4/9 (Th) - EARLY MORNING  
FULL MOON**_

* * *

"-get iiiiIIIIIIIII~ OW!" DJ muttered as he rubbed the back of his head. He sat up groggily, staring at where he was. He was no longer in the "Velvet Room", as Igor had called it, but in his room. And seeing that he was sitting in the floor, he realized he must've fallen out of bed.

"It was all... a dream?" He asked no one, staring at the ceiling. Some dream... He had never seen anything like it. What, did he eat something bad last night? Or was sleeping in Green Scream finally having some kind of effect on him?

These answers filled his head for a moment before he realized he had to get ready for school. He sighed and got up, walking towards his wardrobe to get his stuff ready.

All while failing to notice the velvet colored key sitting on his desk.

DJ hummed the melody of the song playing on his headphones as he walked towards the school. A little music always helped him calm down, even if he just had the strangest dream in the history of dream.

"Mornin' dude!" Junpei said, walking up to him.

"Morning Junpei-kun." DJ greeted back. "You seem happy this morning."

"Why wouldn't I be?" Junpei asked. There was a noticeable skip in his step as he walked. "The sky's blue, we're young... What more could we ask for?"

"Besides fame, fortune and our own personal harem?"

"Duh! That stuff's on a whole different level!" The two shared a laugh before heading towards class. "I can tell you this much, nothing could possibly ruin this day!"

* * *

 _ **4/9 (Th) - AFTER SCHOOL**_

* * *

"You enjoy jinxing yourself, don't you?" DJ growled as he and Junpei walked out of school. "'Nothing could possibly ruin this day'. Well I found something that can. It's called Mr. Ekoda and Classic Literature!"

"Sorry! I didn't we had his class today!" Junpei said, raising his hands in defense. "Heck, I even forgot to bring my textbook."

"Oh please! You were asleep all class! I was forced to stay awake through that torture!"

"Forced? By who?!"

DJ paused before a chill went up his spine. One that did not go unnoticed by Junpei.

"You don't want to know man..." He muttered, spooking Junpei.

"O-Okay, forget I asked." He sighed. "But man... The day was looking so positive and then Mr. Ekoda comes up and ruins it." Junpei stretched his arms and yawned. "I'm still tired from his class..."

"Meh. That happens dude." DJ muttered. He rubbed the back of his neck and yawned. "You never know what the day has in store for you."

"I guess..." Junpei muttered. "Still, you get bummed when things don't go the way you want." DJ blinked and glanced to the side. Junpei had a point. If one thing doesn't go the way you wanted, it could ruin your whole day...

Or life...

Or your parents life...

"Hey, you okay there DJ?" Junpei asked, snapping him out of his daze. Junpei looked at his friend worriedly. He had just stared off into space out of nowhere and went pale all of a sudden.

"Y-Yeah. I'm good..." DJ muttered. "Just remembered a few... things... Wait." He stopped. "Just DJ? No honorific?"

"Well..." Junpei trailed off. "Don't take this the wrong way dude, but your name is a bit weird with honorifics and that kind if stuff. You don't mind, do you?"

"I wasn't complaining." DJ said, much to Junpei's relief. "I just found it a bit out if the blue. Usually I'm the one telling people to stop using honorifics with my name."

"Really?"

"Yep. Speaking of which, I got to tell Yukari to stop too." He shrugged. "Well, I can save that for later. Right now I got to get to the dorm and do that Classic Literature assignment Mr. Ekoda gave us."

"Yea- Wait, what assignment?!"

* * *

 **4/9 (Th) - Dark Hour**

* * *

"...How is he?" The Chairman's voice broke Mitsuru's concentration from the monitor. She sighed and turned her chair over to him.

"The same as last night. He already went to sleep this time around though." She answered, earning a nod from Ikutsuki.

"Hmm... Very interesting." He muttered, sitting down. "This subject is quite the peculiar case." He spoke up, getting Mitsuru and Yukari's attention. "Even if he does have the potential, he should've experienced some of the common symptoms... And yet, nothing. Fascinating."

"But... We're treating him like a guinea pig." Yukari muttered. Every time Ikutsuki talked about DJ made it seem like he was a rat. A worthless animal made for testing chemicals. _Dangerous_ chemicals "I really don't like this..."

"I understand your concern Yukari." Ikutsuki said. She glanced at the man. "But it's imperative that we recruit new members." Yukari bit her lip. She knew that they were in a tight spot, but this still seemed wrong. "Besides, wouldn't you be more comfortable working with someone from the same grade?"

She looked down. "Yeah, I guess..." An alarm on the computer made her jump.

"Command room." Mitsuru spoke into a microphone. "Is that you Akihiko?"

"You're not gonna believe this! This thing is huge!" Akihiko's voice said over the radio. He was panting and Mitsuru could make out the sound of footsteps.

"Akihiko?" Mitsuru asked, starting to feel worried. "What's wrong?"

"No time to talk!" He yelled. "It's chasing me! Just calling to let you know I'm almost there!" A sense of dread filled the air.

"Wait, does he mean... He's bringing that thing here?!" Yukari screamed. Ikutsuki looked nervous and Mitsuru gnashed her teeth. This was not good for anyone. Plus there was still-

Oh no...

"Mr. Chairman, we have to suspend our observation for now. We need to prepare for battle." Ikutsuki nodded.

"O-Okay. Be careful!" He said, earning a nod from Mitsuru.

"Wh-what do we do?" Yukari asked, trembling. Mitsuru was about to say something when she saw something on the video feed.

Akihiko had just came in through the door.

* * *

Akihiko sighed in relief as he slumped down on the floor. He knew it wouldn't last long, but he needed to catch his breath. That _thing_ was coming fast and he needed to be ready to take it out.

"Gotta... catch my breath first... Guh!" He hissed when he felt the pain in his ribs. That monster really did a number on him, much more than a normal one. And from the small time Akihiko spent with it, he could tell that this thing was far from normal.

"Akihiko!" Mitsuru's voice called out. Akihiko looked up to see her, Yukari and the Chairman running up to him. He hissed when he tried to stand up.

"Senpai!" Yukari shouted, running next to him. "Are you alright?!"

"N-Never better..." He lied, trying to get up. "Just get ready... That thing will be here any second now."

"This is no time to joke around!" Mitsuru said, walking up to him.

"Is it one of them Akihiko?" Ikutsuki asked, looking concerned. Akihiko nodded.

"But it's not a normal one, I'll tell you that much..." He muttered. Before he could say anything else, the building shook violently. Nearly knocking everyone off their feet. Yukari shrieked before the shaking stopped.

"W-what?" Yukari said, trying to look out the window. "You've got to be kidding me!"

Mitsuru growled and stood up. "Mr. Chairman head to the command room! Takeba, go wake KL up! Then escape out the back!"

Yukari blinked. "B-But what about you two?" Mitsuru said nothing as she stared at the door.

"...We'll stop it here." Mitsuru grabbed Akihiko hand and help him up. She winced when she saw the state he was in. His clothes were ripped and his white shirt was stained with his own blood. Plus he must've broken something, shown by the way he clutched his stomach. "Akihiko, you led it here... So I'm afraid you'll have to fight..."

Akihiko glared at her and growled. "Like I had a choice!" He looked over to Yukari, who was still frozen in her spot. "What are you waiting for Yukari! Go!" Yukari jumped when he called her. His words registered jn her brain and she nodded.

"I-I'm going!" She said quickly before running up the stairs. Akihiko winced as the pain kicked in again.

"I told not to be so careless Akihiko." Mitsuru said angrily. She glared at Akihiko, who was to busy looking at the door to even care.

"Aright, I should've listened to you!" He yelled, getting into a fighting stance. "But right now, we need to be ready. This is gonna be one hell of a fight!"

* * *

Now when DJ first heard commotion going on downstairs, he really didn't think much of it. They were probably just messing around with a few things and ended up getting carried away or something like that. There was absolutely no need for him to be worried.

Now, when the whole freakin' building shook, that was a different story.

The tremor was so strong it made DJ fall out of his bed. When he got up he figured it was just a small earthquake, but when a second small tremor hit, he knew something was up.

"What is going on?" He asked himself, putting on his jacket. He felt naked without that thing on. He was still dressed in his pajamas, but oddly enough he was still wearing his boots. He shrugged and walked to the door...

Only for it to slam into his face.

"Ow!" He yelled, grabbing his nose. A little harder and it would've been broken! "What the hell?!"

"O-Oh my God, sorry!" Yukari shouted. DJ sighed and let go of his nose and glared at the girl. But the glare went away when he saw what the girl was carrying. A large bow and a short sword. Not to mention the fact that she was here while it was Green Scream again.

"Za?" He blinked. Why the heck did she have weapons with her? Were they real? Holy crap, they really were real! "What the heck-" The building shook again. "Again?!"

"Oh no... They're coming!" Yukari said, getting a confused glance from DJ. "Hurry! Downstairs! We'll leave through the back door!" She grabbed his arm and pulled him out of the room. DJ had to admit, she had a pretty strong grip.

But that didn't change the fact he still had no God damn idea as to what was going on!

"Woahwoahwoah!" He yelled pulling himself and her into a stop. "What the heck is going on?!" A smaller tremor happened and Yukari let him go.

"No time!" She yelled before shoving the sword into his hands. "Here, use this if you need to, but come on!" DJ blinked in astonishment. Yukari looked... terrified. There were pools of tears in her eyes and she looked even more frightened then the night they met.

"Yukari," He said, forgetting the honorific. "what's-"

"Takeba, do you read me?!" Mitsuru's voice came from nowhere, startling DJ.

"Y-Yes, I hear you!" Yukari yelled. DJ could've sworn he heard fighting from wherever Mitsuru was talking from.

"Be careful! There's more than one enemy!" Wait, what? Enemy?! "The one were fighting isn't the one Akihiko saw!"

"What?!" Yukari yelled, making DJ wince. What were these guys even talking about? A rumbling sound coming from downstairs caught their attention. Afterwards, several loud crashes were heard, making the two jump back. "No... L-Let's pull back!"

"To where?!" DJ yelled. He didn't know much, but one thing was for sure, they were in trouble. "The only other place we'd be able to go is to the roof!" Realization flashed across their faces. "Do we have a fire escape?"

"Y-Yeah! Now come on!" DJ nodded and ran up the stairs after her. They heard something else chase after them, but they didn't bother left looking back. "K-Keep moving!" Yukari opened the door to the roof and DJ ran through. She slammed the door shut and locked it before letting out a sigh in relief. "Finally..."

"You said it... Now what the hell is going on?!" DJ yelled, startling her. He was going to yell again when he noticed something off. "Do you hear something...?" Yukari looked confused before a large tremor shook the building. Yukari turned around in horror while DJ just looked at the edge confused.

Even more confused when he saw a giant hand grab the edge of the building.

He didn't even know what to say as more and more hands started climbing up the building. One of them stood out though, carrying a large blue mask that seemed to act like its head. DJ watched as the entirety of the monster climbed on to the roof, revealing it to be a large mass of black hands. And then a large number of the hands took out a sword from who knows where and looked at the two.

"'The hell...?" DJ muttered as Yukari took a step back. "It's like something from a video game..."

"Those monsters," Yukari breathed. "we call them Shadows." She gulped as it came closer. She reached towards the fake gun on her thigh. Slowly and trembling, but she still managed to grab it.

"Uh... Yukari-san! A fake gun's not gonna help us!" He yelled at her before motioning towards the monster. "Aren't you carrying a bow?! Use it!" Yukari didn't listen as the thing came closer. She placed the barrel of the gun on her forehead.

 _"I can do this..."_ She thought, looking back at DJ, who was yelling at her, but she didn't pay attention. _"I have to protect you... I just have to..."_ The monster was right in front of her, She closed her eyes, her hands tightening around the gun... and her thumb on the trigger.

"Yukari!" DJ shouted as the monster raised one of its arms. He growled before gripping the sword he was given tightly. "Hold on! I'm coming!" With a battle cry he charged at the large beast and stabbed the sword into its body... only for it to shatter into pieces, leaving only the handle remaining. "...Really?"

The monster used one of its free hands and swatted DJ away, knocking him back into the door. "Gah!" He cried. He squinted his eyes and watched in horror as the beast brought its sword down on Yukari.

"Yukari!"

 _ **BANG!**_

DJ wasn't sure what happened. One moment he thought Yukari was about to be killed, the next he sees the monster recoil in shock as a blue light engulfed Yukari. Not only that, he could've sworn he heard a gunshot go off from somewhere. And amidst all the confusion, he swore he saw a silhouette of... something large behind Yukari.

"Wow..."

Unfortunately, the monster regained its bearings almost as fast as it lost them. Only a second passed after that light engulfed Yukari and before she could do anything, she was swatted away like a bug, all of that energy coming from her, gone in a flash.

That's when he registered the fact that Yukari was sent flying near the edge of the building, unconscious.

"Y-Yukari-san!" DJ shouted, getting up and running to her. He crouched down to her lifeless body and shook her. "Come on! Get up Yukari-san!" He put two fingers on her neck. He let out a sigh of relief when he felt her pulse. However, a dark feeling built up in his stomach as he heard loud stomps in his direction.

The monster had found its new prey. Him.

He stood up and backed up, momentarily forgetting Yukari as the monster came closer. A dark feeling built up in his gut. _Fear_ , once again. Here he was, about to be slaughtered by a monster without a chance to defend himself... or Yukari. DJ looked at his broken sword and the back at the beast. This was bad. Very _very_ bad. There was no way he could fight this thing with a broken sword! He looked around, hoping there was something, anything that could help him survive!

 _ **CLINK!**_

DJ froze, the soft sound of blood being squished under his boots stopped him. In the puddle he had just stepped on, laid Yukari's fake gun.

He didn't know what it was, but something about it seemed... _familiar_. Like he had seen it before, held it before. The cold metal of the weapon glistened in the yellow moonlight. It made it look so... **alluring**.

DJ picked up the gun, blood getting on his hands. Such... **beautiful** blood... Whoa, where did that come from? The cold steel of the weapon felt so... **relaxing**. It fit in his grip perfectly, as if it was made for him. As he stared at the barrel, it was like everything around him disappeared. No Yukari, no monster... Just him and a gun.

* * *

Yukari groaned as she stirred awake, her sides hurting as she tried getting up. The monster seemed to notice, but he ignored her. She winced in pain before reaching for her-

!

Where was it?! She looked around frantically, hoping it didn't end up somewhere she couldn't reach or worse, off the edge.

But instead, she found it in DJ's hands, the boy staring at the barrel as if it was the only thing that matters.

"D-DJ-kun!" She yelled at him, trying to get his attention. She didn't. "Get out of here!"

Unfortunately the disk jockey couldn't hear her over the sound of his own heartbeat. What was it about this thing that looked so... **amazing, lovely and perfect...** And why did it seem so familiar?! Why?!

"Go on."

DJ's head snapped up. There was no monster in front of him. No nothing. Nothing but an endless white space, that ended with nothingness. That... and the kid from his first day at the dorm. The kid smiled. He made a gun out of his fingers and pointed it at his temple before imitating a gunshot with his mouth.

But that's not all. Beside him... were two other people. One, a boy with blue hair and grey eyes. The other, a brunette girl with fiery red eyes. Both of them looked... happy. Each one held a gun like the one DJ was holding to their temples. Both smiled at him.

"Go ahead." The boy said. "It's your turn now."

"Who knows?" The girl said, smiling brightly at him. But there was a hint of... sadness in her voice. "You might even do a better job than us!"

DJ blinked. Then blinked again. And again. The illusion was gone and the monster was back, gazing at him with its lifeless eyes. DJ chuckled.

He chuckled. And then started giggling. Why was he so afraid before again? This **oversized piece of crap** that tried to **kill** him and Yukari? Was that it? The thought of it made him laugh. This poor poor thing was gonna **die**. And **he** was the one who was gonna do it. He wouldn't just **kill** this **bastard**. He would **completely destroy it**.

* * *

"There it is!" Akihiko yelled. He and Mitsuru had finished off all the smaller Shadows that had tried to get in and were in the control room with Ikutsuki, looking for the main one. As soon as they found it, they were greeted to the sight of it wacking Yukari away and walk towards DJ.

"Hurry! We have to help them!" Mitsuru said as both of them turned to head out.

"Wait!" Ikutsuki said, not turning around. Mitsuru was about to object when she saw what was on the monitor.

DJ had picked up Yukari's Evoker. And was pointing it at his head.

* * *

Yukari watched as he raised it to his head. What was he doing? Did he know how it worked? No, he shouldn't know! So what, he was wanting to commit suicide or something?! "D-DJ-kun...?

DJ smiled as his finger brushed against the trigger. And it wasn't his normal smile either. It was a smile reminiscent of a complete psychopath. But that didn't matter to him. All that crossed his mind was one word...

" **Per**...

 **So**...

 **Na!** "

And then he pulled the trigger.

* * *

Yukari couldn't believe it.

She had been trying for days. Trying to get herself to pull that stupid trigger on her Evoker and finally summon her Persona. She had spent countless hours in her room trying to do it... But she couldn't. No matter what she tried, she couldn't bring herself to do it. The thought of what it was going to bring was to terrifying for her. But today was different.

She had a job. She had a mission. Keep DJ safe. Safe so she could tell him... that they were the same. She had managed to do so until they got here on this god forsaken roof where that Shadow had confronted them.

As scared as she was, she had no choice. She watched DJ try to fight it, but she knew it was useless. Her Persona was the only way! But then, when she finally managed to pull the trigger... she was too late. The Shadow had gotten to her and she got sent flying. She failed... and there was nothing she could do.

But then she saw DJ pick up her Evoker... And shoot himself in the head so easily. Something that took her _ages_ to do. He did it without even knowing _what_ he was doing.

She watched as a torrent of energy circled around him.. Even the Shadow took a few steps back as DJ's Persona came into view. A large mechanical man with a golden lyre and red scarf flowing in the wind.

 _"Thou art I."_ It said as it rose into the air. _"And I am thou. From the sea of thy soul I cometh. I am Orpheus, Master of Strings."_ The DJ stood up high, the blue energy licking his clothes and skin as Orpheus roared into the air. It was so amazing...

She blew her chance... And now, here he was. The boy _she_ was supposed to protect ended up being the one to protect _her_.

"I'm so worthless..." She cried silently.

* * *

"Just as we expected..." Mitsuru said as she saw Orpheus rise into the air. Akihiko watched the scene, impressed that he could summon his Persona so easily.

Still, there was something bothering him. The kid hadn't been told anything about Personas or about the Evokers yet... So how did he know what to do with it?

* * *

In that moment that DJ pulled the trigger, the one thing he felt was pain surge through his skull. Pain easily compared to getting shot in the head. But then there was that huge surge of power that came forth, only to manifest himself as the mechanical man floating behind him.

He glared at the monster, the "Shadow", as Yukari called it. This... **abomination** deserved to **die**. A **slow and painful death**. One that would show these monsters **who** they were dealing with! One that one **destroy, cremate, obliterate, annihilate, decimate, kill destroy DIE dEATH DeAd KILL D3STR0Y DeA7H DIE! DIE! DIE!**

DJ clutched his head as an overwhelming pain clawed at his skull. Even Orpheus suddenly seemed to be in pain. The two twisted and grunted as the pain grew more and more and the urge to **kill** to **maim** to-

A loud inhuman growl escaped his and Orpheus's throat. He clutched his head and groaned louder as Orpheus started convulsing wildly. A dark hand shot out from inside Orpheus as he groaned and growled with pain. A second one burst through its mouth and grabbed Orpheus's shoulder, as if it was trying to claw its way out. With each motion DJ yelled a bit louder.

And then, it just... burst out.

Orpheus was no longer standing there. Only his remains laid scattered on the floor. No. In it's place stood something terrifying. A large creature in a black robe, carrying a long sword. Its face was that of a monster, a metallic jaw that showed no emotion other than rage and pure bloodlust. And behind it was a cape completely made out of coffins.

The Shadow immediately stopped in its place staring at the new beast, who roared into the sky. It took a step back, but unfortunately for it, the cloaked Persona already had it in its sight. In a split second, the Persona appeared in front of the Shadow, faster than anyone present could even register.

What happened afterwards was a slaughter.

A single swing of the Persona's sword cut it in half like butter. Oh, but it did not stop there. It grabbed the Shadow, sinking its metallic jaws into its dark flesh before picking it up and slamming it on the rooftop, where he proceeded to continuously stab the monster. And stab and stab and **stab** and **sTab StAB Stdie dIE dIE DIE!**

After a final swing of its blade, the Persona stood up and admired his handiwork. The Shadow laid at his feet, or at least, its remains did. It was severed into dozens of small pieces, each one dissolving into the floor. Only one of its hand remained, the one holding its mask. It tried to limp away, but the Persona grabbed the mask and brought it to eye level, glaring at it. Without a second thought, the Persona crushed the mask with one hand into nothing.

Yukari stared at the new Persona in sheer terror. Just... what was that thing? What happened to the other one, Orpheus?

DJ panted heavily as he gazed at the cloaked Persona and the remains of the Shadow. A twisted smile appeared on his face as he admired the **beautiful death** of such a **vile** creature. His head ached again, much stronger than the other times. And for some reason, DJ felt like he should do one thing...

Roar.

And roar he did.

Alongside his dark Persona.

* * *

The three watching in the command room couldn't tell if they were either shocked or horrified. But in all honesty, it felt like a little bit of both. The three could barely contain their surprise when they saw a second Persona come out of the first one. One that managed to destroy the large Shadow so easily.

They had never seen a Persona with power like that. The sheer thought of something like that existing was to overwhelming. But here it was. Mitsuru watched as the Persona flickered like a light bulb before turning back into DJ's first persona, Orpheus.

"What...?" She muttered. Her eyes wouldn't leave the monitor. She was too in shock to even move.

"What the hell was that?!" Akihiko yelled. He had been hunting Shadows for a few years now, but he had never seen anything like that. The Chairman said nothing, but you could easily tell by his expression that he was surprised.

* * *

DJ sighed in relief as the overwhelming pain in his head died down. Orpheus floated above him, looking equally tired before disappearing in a flash of light. The boy stretched his arms before looking at Yukari's gun. He sighed and stuffed it in his pocket.

"Well..." He wheezed, still panting heavily. "That was... something."

"Wow..." Yukari's voice got his attention. She was sitting up, staring at him as if he had just preformed some kind of miracle. Which in hindsight, he kinda did. But at the same time, it also looked like she was staring at a monster. Which, again, he kinda did become one. It was debatable. "W-What was that...?" She questioned. Before DJ could answer, he swore he heard something behind-

"Guh!" DJ grunted as soon as he felt something lunge towards him. He narrowly jumped out of the way, but the small Shadow that assaulted him managed to his right leg.

"DJ-kun!" Yukari shouted as she saw the Shadow tear through his pajama pants. She saw DJ grunt before jumping out of the way. She gulped as she looked down at the tear on his le-

Wait, what?

DJ's calf wasn't bleeding. In fact, it didn't look like anything was bleeding... Actually, his leg didn't even look human. It looked... metal.

"What...?" She whispered, staring at the metal leg. DJ glanced at the tear and then glared at the Shadow- Er.. Scratch that. Shadows. Plural. Two to be exact. Two blotches of darkness with weird flappy arms and blue masks like that larger one.

"Oy!" DJ yelled, startling Yukari. "Do you have any idea how much this thing cost me?!" He yelled before glancing at the metal leg. "And you scratched my prosthetic!" He growled before taking off his right boot. Like the rest of his leg, DJ's right foot was made of metal.

"Y-Your leg..." Yukari muttered, but DJ didn't listen to her. He was too busy glaring at the Shadows in front of them. DJ tapped his metal foot on the ground and motioned for the Shadows to come at him. They happily obliged.

One Shadow lunged at him, but he simply stepped out of its grasp. He raised his leg and slammed his heel into the Shadow's mask before kicking it into the other Shadow. DJ grabbed Yukari's gun from his pocket and pointed it at himself.

"Persona!" DJ yelled, shooting himself with the gun. Orpheus appeared behind him and raised his lyre before dropping it down on both the shadows.

 _"After all that he can still use his Persona?"_ Yukari thought, staring at Orpheus as he disappeared. DJ took advantage of the Shadows' dazed state kicked one of the in the mask hard, shattering the mask and sending it flying into the wall, leaving a big black splat. The other Shadow saw its companion go down and lunged at DJ, who jumped out of the way before it could do anything.

"Heh. Kinda hard to win when all you can do is lunge, sucker." DJ taunted, making the Shadow seethe. Seeing the Shadow like that made something inside him grow. And unlike that weird bloodlust he was feeling earlier, this one was... good. He pointed the gun at his head again, one word going through his head. "So your 'heating up', huh? Well why don't I show you what real heat feels like?! Orpheus! Agi!" The Master of Strings appeared in the sky and his eyes glowed red for a split second. Yukari stared in confusion until the Shadow was engulfed in an explosion, destroying it completely.

Yukari stared as DJ twirled the gun in his hand before sticking it in his pocket. He turned around to her and smiled, giving her a thumbs up. She stared at him with her mouth agape.

"What are you...?" She whispered as DJ walked over to her. However, the boy only took two steps before his legs caved in and he fell to floor. "Wh- DJ-kun!" She yelled before running over to him. She shook him lightly, hoping to wake him up. "Come on... Say something!" DJ managed to keep his eyes open long enough to see her open her mouth, but that was all.

In few short moments, the world around him went black.

* * *

There weren't many things that surprised Igor.

He had spent countless years in the Velvet Room, watching the events of the universes around him. Since the very first day he was alive, he had sworn only to observe, to never directly interfere with the Multiverse. For eons he had respected this law and would continue to do so for all eternity.

However, there was one universe that he found very... _peculiar_.

The first time he arrived there, his guest was a young blue haired man. A _**fool**_. One who played the role of a savior. After facing many hardships and building many friendships, the man had performed the ultimate sacrifice. His life traded for the lives of everyone else. After that, the universe had continued its normal trajectory.

Igor thought he was done there... He was wrong.

Imagine his surprise when the universe _**reset**_ itself.

For one thing, Elizabeth, his assistant sole assistant at the time, had no memories of his previous guest. No memories of her leaving the room in order to save him. Neither did her siblings. He found it... odd. Why was he the only one remembered it so well? It was something not even _he_ could understand.

What's more is that the second time, he ended up bringing her brother, Theodore, instead of her. It was a wise decision, for their guest had changed completely.

Instead of the blue haired man, it was a brunette girl, with fiery red eyes and a bright smile. She took the role of the _**fool**_ this time around. She went through hardships, some different than the man, but their goal was the same.

But the biggest change here was that she managed to correct one of the man's mistakes. The _**death of one of his friends**_. Unfortunately, her end was the same as the young man. Sacrificing herself for the sake of humanity.

Igor was finally about to leave the universe until it _**reset**_ itself _**again**_.

Again, neither of his assistants remembered their guests, but he did. And their guest had changed once again.

But this guest was... _interesting_.

This _**fool**_ was different than the others. This one kept secrets. So did the other two, but the secrets this young man had were much deeper. His _**life**_ , his _**identity**_. They were all hidden from everyone. Being the fortune teller he was, he uncovered them easily, and they were _**incredible**_ secrets.

He smiled as he saw him unleash his Persona. This guest was one of a kind. He reminded him of the other two, but he was completely alien at the same time!

This boy would be the one to write the _**true**_ _**journey**_ of this this universe. Igor could feel it in his blood.

Will he succeed? Perhaps. If he lets the _**fog**_ around his secrets fade and show his _**true self**_.

Igor's smile grew as he and his two youngest assistants watched DJ fight off against the Shadows.

What will become of this boy's future? Will he suffer the same fate as those who came before him?

Or will he discover his own _**answer to life?**_

* * *

 _ **SAVE GAME?  
YES -  
NO**_

 _ **SAVING...**_

 _ **SAVED.**_


	4. The Journey: Part III

_**Persona 3 FES:  
"Advent of the Fool"**_

 _ **LOAD DATA  
1\. DATE: 4/17 (Fri) Velvet Room  
PLV2 - DJKL**_

 _ **LOAD THIS GAME?  
YES -  
NO**_

 _ **LOADING...**_

 _ **LOADED.**_

* * *

 _ **4/17 (Fri) - EARLY MORNING  
FULL MOON IN: 22**_

* * *

The soft rays of the morning sunshine illuminated the almost vacant room, making the scene in front of Yukari seem even more depressing. It had been a week since DJ summoned his Persona, a week since he protected them both on top of that rooftop... A week since he's been unconscious.

She bit her lip as she watched his lifeless body breathe in and out, the only motion he had been doing for the past week. In all honesty, seeing the energetic boy so quiet was actually frightening. He... He didn't even look like he was alive.

The girl shook her head, banishing the though to who knows where. She couldn't think about stuff like that. He _would_ wake up and she _would_ tell him the truth.

But then her eyes fell onto his right leg.

It _ended_ at his _knee_.

From that point downwards, it was completely made of metal.

Albeit, his prosthetic leg was now sitting on a table in the room, but that still didn't remove the fact the he was physically disabled. When she first saw it, she was confused. What the heck happened to his leg? Questions like that filled her mind for day until yesterday, when she got a better look at the file regarding... _**the accident**_.

DJ did _not_ get out of that accident _unscathed_.

The lower part of his right leg ended up getting crushed underneath the car and it became useless. If they didn't amputate it... there was a high chance he would've died.

The leg itself was a lot different than any prosthetic she had seen. It was hard to describe but... it looked like it was trying to literally imitate a human leg. The foot looked like a big block of metal, but the rest was shaped like a normal human calf.

How had DJ even been able to live with this thing? More importantly, how the hell did he manage to keep this a secret?! He even slept with the thing on for God's sake!

She sighed, getting up from her chair and standing next to him. "You really are full of secrets, aren't you?" She asked him, knowing he wouldn't answer. "And here I am, sticking my nose in your life when you don't know anything about mine..." She balled her hands into fists. "I-I'll... I'll be back after school. G-Get better DJ-kun... I don't know what I'd do if you don't." And with that she left, but not without taking one final glance at his sleeping form.

 _"I'm sorry..."_

* * *

"Ooo~... My aching head..." DJ muttered as the darkness around him began to fade. He clutched his head when he felt a large surge of pain. It reminded him of the time he found his grandfather's stash of beer and helped himself to it. Albeit, the end results were less than satisfactory, leaving him with a major hangover and an even worse disciplining session courtesy of his grandfather. Needless to say, the day ended with DJ swearing to never put alcohol in his mouth again, even after he turned eighteen. Staying sober was well worth it.

When a soft musical track hit his ears, his vision had finally cleared up. The sight greeting him was the same from that night a few days ago. Blue.

He was back in that _**Velvet Room**_.

DJ shook his head, ignoring the pain coming up from each rattle. Igor sat in front of him, his always present smile growing when he saw DJ was awake.

"You again...?" DJ groaned, sitting up on his chair. "Am I asleep again...?" Igor chuckled and waved his hand.

"Not entirely." He said as DJ regained the majority of his senses. "You fell unconscious after awakening to your 'power'." DJ blinked in confusion.

"Power...? What do you-" He couldn't finish because another pain struck though his head. Memories of the night of his awakening came in like a torrent, each one making DJ paler. "T-That night..." He looked up at Igor. "What was all that?"

"That was the beginning of your journey of course. The long nosed man said, his grin growing. "And I see it was Orpheus that heeded your calling."

"Orpheus..." DJ put a hand on his chin. "That big white guy... And then there was that one with the metal jaw..."

"That power is called a _**Persona**_." Igor explained. "It is a manifestation of your psyche."

"My what?"

"It may take sometime to fully comprehend..." Igor snapped his fingers. "Think of it as a mask that protects you as you brave many hardships."

"So Orpheus and that other one are... my masks?" DJ asked, earning a nod in response. "This is way too trippy..."

"However... Your power is still weak." Igor cut him of, much to the brunette's dismay. "When you use a Persona ability, you must channel your inner strength. The ability evolves as you develop your _**Social Links**_ , your emotional ties with others."

"Social Links...?" DJ muttered, staring at the man in front of him. "So... my friendships make me stronger?"

"That is the gist of it. So please, remember that." Igor said. "Now, I would enjoy giving you a more detailed explanation, but time marches on in your world. I shouldn't keep you here any longer."

"Wait, what?! But I still don't get everything!"

"Worry not. The next time we meet, you will come here of your own accord." Igor said, waving his hand. "If you look at your desk in your world, you'll find the key I gave you on the first day we met."

"Wha- That key is real?!" Igor chuckled at DJ's flabbergasted expression.

"Until then..." DJ was about to protest when he suddenly felt his body go numb and his world go dark. "Farewell."

* * *

 _ **4/17 (Fri) - AFTER SCHOOL**_

* * *

The first thing DJ registered when he opened his was sunlight. And by that, I don't mean the warm morning sunlight from earlier. I mean the hot unpleasant evening sun.

"Guh!" He groaned silently, shielding his eyes with one hand. It was already day time? Dammit Igor... He could've at least given him a little warning.

That's when he noticed he wasn't in the room alone. Sitting next to his bed was Yukari, who looked like she had been... crying? She hadn't even noticed him stir.

"...Yukari-san?" He whispered. Het head immediately shot up and she stared at him with wide eyes.

"DJ-kun!" She exclaimed, making him wince. He still felt that hangover he felt in the Velvet Room. "Your awake!"

 _"Really? Didn't notice."_ He thought sarcastically with a small pout

"Um... How are you feeling?" She asked as DJ tried to sit up.

"I feel my head's about to explode..." He muttered, making Yukari wince. "It's nothing a little rest can't fix though.

"What a relief..." Yukari let out a breath. "I'm so glad you finally came to..." Her expression hardened and she glared at him. "How much sleep do you need? It's been a whole week!"

"A week?!" DJ asked, shooting up from his seat. He quickly regretted it when he felt another surge of pain. He took a deep breath and looked Yukari in the eye. "I've been out for a week?"

"Y-Yeah..." She muttered, looking away. "I was so worried... You saved our lives, so I couldn't just leave you here..." DJ raised an eyebrow before the night's events came rushing towards his head. "The doctor said there was nothing wrong with you, but you kept sleeping and sleeping..."

"...So it really did happen." He said, looking away from her. "Those monsters... What I did..."

"Unfortunately..." Yukari said, biting her lip. "Hey, uh... I wanted to say sorry." DJ blinked in confusion. "For last night I mean. I was supposed to protect you and I..." The disk jockey noticed her grip the hem of her skirt. "I screwed up..."

"Hey, don't be like that." DJ said, making her look up. "Trust me. In your position, I bet I would've panicked too."

"But... You _didn't_." She deadpanned "And your power... It was amazing! I never saw anything like it."

"Honestly? Neither have I." Yukari couldn't help but laugh at that, making DJ smile. At least she wasn't acting so depressed anymore. "But still... What were those things?" Yukari's expression turned grim.

"You mean the **Shadows**? She asked, earning a nod in response. "They're what we're fighting against. And the power you used is called a 'Persona'." DJ couldn't help but smile slightly. Looks like those dreams about that Velvet Room he'd been having weren't just dreams...

"That still doesn't answer much..."

"Sorry... Look, everything will be explained to you better at the dorm, okay?" DJ put and hand on his chin for a moment and then sighed. It would have to do for now. At least he could finally learn the big connection between these people and Green Scream."I'm sorry I didn't tell you all this before."

"Like I would've believed a story like that." He laughed, getting Yukari to laugh with him. He was about to say something when he noticed something... off. He peeked under his covers and blinked at the sight before him. "Hey, where's my prosthetic?"

"Oh, y-your leg..." She muttered before pointing at the desk where the leg was. "The doctors removed it so they could treat you more... accordingly due to your disability." DJ blinked before pouting.

"I really hate it when people use that word to describe it..." He muttered, glaring at his fake leg from afar. "So what if I have a fake limb? It's not like I'm not human anymore..."

"It was a bit... _surprising_ , that's for sure." Yukari said, looking back at him. "You've been here for the past few days and no one even noticed. Do you even take that thing off?"

"Only to shower." He answered , looking back at his stump of a leg. "Besides, I feel kinda naked without that thing on. It's like a second part of me."

"But why does it look so-"

"Different?" He finished for her, earning a nod. "Oji-san had a friend of his custom make it so it'd look as natural as possible. He based the model off this one prosthetic made for football players."

"Football?"

"Er... Soccer. Sorry, that's what happens when you grow up with a girl from England as your childhood friend." Yukari looked at him strangely and he sighed. "The point is, my prosthetic's a lot like that other one except it's... thicker, I guess." He scratched the back of his neck. "It's not all that bad. I barely even notice the difference."

"Still, it must've been tough..." Yukari whimpered, looking at his prosthetic limb. "How many of these thing have you used?"

"About nine... Or was it eleven?" DJ scratched his cheek sheepishly. "I really can't remember..." Yukari got up from her chair, startling DJ. "What's up?"

"...It was the accident that cost you your leg, right?"

Silence.

DJ's cheerful expression immediately fell. His lowered his head, his face being shadowed by his hair as he clenched his fists. He really didn't like it when people mentioned _that_ night. Yukari, noticing his foul mood continued.

"I... I just wanted to say that... I'm sorta like you." DJ's head snapped back up. He looked at the pink wearing girl in confusion before she started talking again. "My dad died in an accident when I was little... and my mom and I aren't exactly on good terms with each other..." She glanced at him before looking away again. "I kinda already know about your past..."

DJ sighed, glancing at the palm of his now sweaty hand. "Ten years ago, 1999... On the Moonlight Bridge..." Images flashed in his mind. Fire. Blood. Corpses.

"But it didn't seem fair so I wanted to tell you mine." She said, making DJ look up at her.

"You really don't have to-"

"I _want_ to." She stated firmly. "I've kept enough secrets from you as it is." That phrase made him wince. Sure, she was willing to tell him her secrets. Him on the other hand... "It was back in '99 too. There was a big explosion in the area and my dad was supposedly killed in the blast... But no one really knows what happened." DJ couldn't help but relate to that. Even though the incident technically _was_ a car accident, it just seemed to... gruesome for one.

"I'm... I'm sorry..." He said. Yukari gave him a sad smile before continuing.

"He was working in a lab run by the Kirijo Group. So, I'm hoping if I stick around long enough I'll find something."

"Is that why you're going to Gekkoukan?" DJ asked, earning a nod. "Man that's deep. And here I am just wanting to get a decent education." Yukari giggled as DJ stretched his arms. "I guess that's why you were there that night too, huh?" Yukari nodded, albeit sadly.

"Of course I panicked and ended up being of no use at all... That was my first time fighting them too." DJ blinked, surprised. That was her first time? She may have been a bit spooked that night but he figured she knew what she was doing.

"Stop beating yourself up for that." DJ said, making Yukari sigh. Honestly, girls could be such a mystery at times. "I was scared out of my mind too at first."

Yukari shook her head and sighed. "And here I am telling you all this the minute you wake up." She chuckled at herself. "You know while I was waiting, I kept telling myself 'I've been keeping so many things hidden from him... As soon as he wakes up, I'll tell him the truth'." DJ's eye twitched as he felt a moral knife stab his heart. "So thanks for listening to me. I've been wanting to share that story with someone for a while now."

DJ smiled. "You're welcome Yukari." Yukari smiled back at him, a faint blush on her cheeks.

"A-Anyway, I go to get going." She started walking towards the door. "I'll let the others know you woke up. Now be a good patient! And don't hesitate to call the nurse!" She stopped. "...Bye DJ-kun."

"DJ."

"Hmm?" Yukari spun on her heel to face DJ, who was staring at her with a playful smile on his face.

"Just call me DJ. No honorifics, no nothing." Yukari stared at him for a moment before a blush appeared on her face.

"A-Are you sure?" She asked. DJ had to resist the urge to laugh at her stutter. "B-Because, I really don't mind-"

"Nah! My name's weird with honorifics attached to it." He admitted, scratching his cheek. "Just DJ will do, okay?" Yukari nodded, albeit slowly.

"O-Okay... Bye DJ-k- Er... DJ." If DJ had his cellphone, he would've taken at least twenty pictures of Yukari's beat red face. And to finish the package, DJ waited until she stepped out the door.

"Bye~ Yu-chan!" He shouted. Yukari visibly tripped on her own feet and nearly fell down. She glanced back at DJ, her face even redder than before. The disk jockey smirked and the girl ran out of his view as fast as she could. "Hehe. Still got it."

* * *

 _ **4/17 (Fri) - LATE NIGHT**_

* * *

To say that Akihiko was pissed was an understatement.

After the DJ's (Weird name for sure, but he wasn't one to judge) awakening last week, the moment the Dark Hour had ended, Akihiko was sent to the hospital to get his wounds treated. The results were... much less than satisfactory. Especially for someone like Akihiko.

Three broken ribs, large amounts of internal bleeding and worst of all, a broken arm. The ultimate bane of any boxer.

He growled as he glared at his cast,. Just looking at it made it feel like it was taunting him. Taunting him for being to weak that night. And as much as Akihiko hated to admit it, it was true.

Now, normally Akihiko would still be working out even wounds like his. However, after a rather stern talk from one Mitsuru and the threatening of one of her fabled _executions_ , the white haired boxer had no choice but to rest.

"Oh, here's a good one! What kind of dinosaur is best known for its eye problems? An _eyesore_!"

...And it also left him stuck to babysit their pun-happy Chairman Ikutsuki. Now Akihiko held no ill will towards the man...

But the _puns_! Oh God, the _**puns**_!

"Ugh~..." Akihiko groaned, slamming his face on the table to avoid having to listen to another one of Ikutsuki's horrible jokes. "What did I do to deserve this...?"

"Besides blatantly ignore Mitsuru's warnings to be cautious and got yourself injured by doing exactly what she told you _not_ to do?"

" _Thank you_ Mr. Chairman. _**Thank you**_." The Chairman let out a laugh as Akihiko let out another groan.

"Ah, it's nice to unwind after a battle..." The Chairman said, leaning back in his seat. "It's already been a week, but it feels like so much less. Time flies so quickly..." Akihiko grunted, picking himself up and sitting back in the chair.

"Bye the way Mr. Chairman, Yukari told me that DJ woke up today." He said, surprising Ikutsuki. The Chairman smiled and fixed his glasses into place.

"Well, that's some good news." He said. "Having DJ join SEES would certainly be useful. I've never seen a power like his before."

"Not to mention the kid knows how to fight." Akihiko muttered, recalling when DJ fought the remaining two shadows. "Although... There's something about that kid that bothers me..."

"Oh, don't be so paranoid Akihiko." The Chairman said laughing. "Don't forget Takeba technically did summon her Persona that night, even if it was briefly. Perhaps he saw what she did and simply tried to imitate it." Akihiko crossed his arms. There was that possibility, but it seemed like to much of a coincidence.

"I guess..."

"Good... Oh, I got another one! What has ten letters and starts with gas? An _automobile_!"

The white haired boxer groaned and slammed his face on the table. This was gonna be a _long_ night.

* * *

"Well here it is..." DJ muttered, picking up the velvet key from his desk. The disk jockey was just released from the hospital and he was more than eager to go home. Especially since he wanted to see if those dreams he had been having really were true.

That tiny key confirmed it.

"This is way too trippy..." He muttered, playing with the key in his hand. "If I know all this would happen to me, I would've asked Oji-san to send me to Europe or something." He sighed, dropping the key back on the desk.

The past few days had been... insane. He ever since... that day, he had been experiencing Green Scream, and as terrifying as it was at first, he had grown accustomed to it. He never thought there was much to it. But now, he found out there were even more people who know about it. Not to mention those Shadows...

He had never seen those things before. From what he could gather from Yukari and the night of his "awakening", they only appeared during Green Scream. So where the hell were they for the past ten years?! And those Personas... Personae? Aw, screw it! What mattered was that ever since DJ got to Iwatodai, things had been just plain out of whack. This dorm, the Velvet Room, Personas... All these things just... came up out of nowhere. He thought he was ready for anything Iwatodai could throw at him...

He was wrong. Very wrong.

He sighed before laying down on his bed. "What have I gotten myself into..."

* * *

 _ **4/18 (Sat) - EVENING**_

* * *

DJ hummed to himself as he walked into the dorm, a small smile on his face for a very simple reason. Today was the day most of his questions would be answered. Earlier at school, Yukari told him how Mitsuru and the other wanted to talk to him at the dorm. To be more precise, they wanted to bring him up to speed on everything that's happened to him.

The point is, he was about to get what he wanted since day one. Answers

"Okay, play it natural." He said to himself as he climbed up the stairs. "You're trying get as many answers as possible to make some sense out if this whole mess." He gulped. "Just. Be. Cool."

"Are... you okay, DJ?"

"Wah!" DJ nearly jumped out of his skin when he felt someone tap him on the shoulder. Yukari was there, slightly spooked at the scream the boy just let out.

"Geez, calm down." Yukari grumbled. "You've been staring into space for the past five minutes. You haven't moved from the stairs since."

...Oops.

"Hehe... Sorry..." DJ muttered, his face getting red. "I'm just a bit nervous..." Yukari smiled at him.

"Don't be. Just be cool and talk to them like you would any other person..." Her smile dropped slightly. "A-And... if they ask you to do anything... you don't need to accept it, okay?"

The disk jockey blinked. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"N-Nothing..." She fell silent after that. DJ stared at her for a moment and then shrugged. It was a bit cryptic, but DJ could notice some... hostility between Yukari and Mitsuru. Well, at least on Yukari's side. Maybe it had something to do with her dad? Nah, I doubt she would be the kind of persona to hold a grudge over something neither of them had control over. _Joy_. More questions.

The moment the two reached the fourth floor, DJ saw Mitsuru, Ikutsuki and a guy in a red vest with a sling over his arm sitting around a table, with a large metal briefcase beside the Chairman. Seeing the two walk into the room, Ikutsuki smiled.

"Ah, there you are." He said as the two walked in. "It's nice to see you fully recovered. Anyway, there are a few things we wanted to discuss with you." DJ nodded and sat down on a chair. Yukari took a seat on the sofa next to Mitsuru.

"Continue." DJ said, getting his message across.

"Oh, but before that." The Chairman said, gesturing to the third-year next to him. "I believe I've mentioned him earlier, but this is Akihiko." Akihiko waved at the brunette boy.

"How ya doin'?" He asked, earning a shrug from DJ.

"Still a little tired, but I'll live." He said. "Besides, I'm the on who should be asking that..." He said, looking the sling on his arm. Akihiko noticed his gaze and chuckled.

"Don't worry about." He said, waving the thought off. "This right here is nothing." Ikutsuki coughed, bringing the attention back to him.

"Moving on..." The Chairman turned to DJ and looked him straight in the eye. "Let me start off by asking you this... Would you believe me if I said that a day consists of more than 24 hours?"

"Aha!" DJ shouted, startling everyone in the room. He stood up and pointed at the Chairman. "I knew you people knew about Green Scream! You've been trying to keep it hidden from me, but I still figured it out!" Everyone in the room blinked.

"... _Green Scream_?" Mitsuru asked, breaking the pregnant silence that had rolled in with DJ's exclamation.

"You know," The disk jockey started. "that hour that happens after midnight where everyone turns into coffins and the world gets painted green." Another silence rolled.

"You know about it?" Akihiko asked, before something else came to mind. "And you named it _Green Scream_?"

"What else was I supposed to name it. Everything turned green and the first time it happened to me I screamed like a little girl." He pouted. As ridiculous as that sounded, that Reilly was how he came up with the name. "I have thought about changing it, but Green Scream had grown on me over the years, so I kept it."

" _Years_?" Mitsuru asked incredulously. Actually, everyone looked at DJ in disbelief. "KL... How long have you been experiencing the Dark Hour?"

"Ten years." He said simply, earning different reactions from everyone. Ikutsuki was mildly surprised, Mitsuru was in shock, Akihiko was staring at him in disbelief, expecting to say something like "Just kidding" or something, and Yukari looked... completely horrified. "And you call it the _Dark Hour_? That's... a lot better than my name, I'll give you that."

"T-Ten years...?" Yukari whispered, still staring at the boy. "You've experienced the Dark Hour for ten years?!" DJ winced at her tone. The others didn't show it much, but they were all pretty much thinking the same thing she was.

"Is... that bad?" He asked, earning an "Are you serious?!" look from everyone. "I'll take that as a yes."

"Yes. And for a very simple reason." Ikutsuki said, adjusting his glasses. "The Dark Hour will happen tonight and every other night to come, always when the clock strikes twelve. During this hour, Shadows come out and attack anyone not in a coffin." He glanced back at DJ, who was looking at him intently. "The fact that you've been experiencing it for ten years and nothing has happened to you is... _strange_ , for lack of a better word."

"...About those Shadows..." DJ started. "What's their deal?"

"Didn't you see those monsters that night?" Akihiko asked, standing up. "Shadows only appear in the Dark Hour, and they'll attack anyone not in a coffin... With you being an odd exception, apparently." He whispered that last part. "It's our job to take them out. Sounds exciting, eh?" DJ couldn't help but chuckle.

"Fighting monsters does sound pretty cool..." He mused as imaginary images of him fighting of hordes of Shadows on a white horse and a golden lance filled his mind.

"Akihiko!" Mitsuru said, making Akihiko freeze. The boxer swore he felt the room temperature fall down by about forty degrees. "Why are you always like that?! You just got hurt the other day!" Akihiko noticeably growled before sitting down. Mitsuru continued to glare at the boxer before Ikutsuki cleared his throat.

"Now, now. He does his work well." He said, alleviating some of the tension in the air. DJ leaned closer to Yukari.

"Are those two engaged or something?" He whispered to her. Despite the situation, Yukari couldn't help but snicker at the thought. The two really did act like a married couple every now and then. Unfortunately, Mitsuru's glare ended up shutting them up.

"Long story short," Ikutsuki continued. "We are the **Specialized Extracurricular Execution Squad**. Or **SEES** for short." DJ blinked.

"SEES?" He asked, glancing at Yukari's arm band.

"On paper, we're classified as a school club. But in reality, this group is dedicated to defeating the Shadows." The Chairman finished. DJ put a hand on his chin.

"This is starting to sound like some kind of plot for a video game... " He muttered. "So you guys go around at night killing Shadows, is that it?"

"In a way, yes." Mitsuru said, getting the boy's attention. "Although it is a bit more complex than that."

"Save the details. I'll ask later." The disk jockey said, earning a nod from the red head. He glanced at everyone in the room and sighed. "Anything else?"

"Well, Mitsuru is the definitive lead of SEES." The Chairman spoke. "I serve as the club advisor."

"Shadows are also the reason for those bizarre cases of Apathy Syndrome." Yukari said. Admittedly, what she told DJ made the brunette boy lean back in shock.

"Takeba is correct." Mitsuru continued. "Shadows feed of the minds of their prey, leaving the victims as living corpses." DJ grimaced. He had heard plenty about the Apathy Syndrome breakthroughs... He just didn't expect Shadows to be the cause of them.

"Of course, there are people who can manage to stay awake during the Dark Hour." Akihiko said. "And amongst those, there are people who have the potential to use the only power capable of beating the Shadows."

"Persona..." DJ muttered, earning a nod from everyone present. "Okay... So what does all this have to do with me?"

"You awakened to your power the other night." Ikutsuki said, placing the metal briefcase on the table.

"You're point?"

"What he's trying to say is, we want you to join us." Mitsuru said, opening the briefcase. Inside was a red arm band, just like everyone else 's and... a gun. One that looked just like Yukari's. "We've prepared an **Evoker** for you. We'd like you to lend us your strength." DJ looked at the Evoker and then back at Mitsuru.

"Kind of a tough choice..." He muttered. "As fun as beating up monsters sounds, I'm really not so sure." He paused. "What sucks the most is that won't ever be a damsel in distress for me to rescue because everyone who can't fight is gonna be in a coffin." Both Mitsuru and Yukari had to resist the urge to smack him for having such shallow reason.

"Don't think about it too much." Akihiko said. "Just hang out with us for a while."

"Please," Mitsuru continued. "we need your help." Yukari looked at the elder girl in disbelief.

"Y-You can't ask him like that!" She protested. "Who could say no...?" She gave the boy a look, one that said "Please remember what I told you earlier.". "I mean, it'd be nice if he joined, but... it's his choice."

"Relax Yu-Chan!" DJ said, snapping her out of her train of thought. A small shadow of pink coated her cheeks when she realized that he called her _that_ in front of their seniors. "I get what you people need me to do." He reached for the Evoker and picked it up, twirling it in around his finger. "Damsels or not, I wouldn't give up an adventure like this for nothing!"

"So you accept?" Yukari asked, a smile forming on her face. The boy nodded, making her sigh in relief. Funny. Wasn't she against him joining? Or was it because he joined of his own free will?

"Excellent." Ikutsuki said. "Oh, and about your room assignment, why don't you stay here, in your current room?" DJ shrugged.

"Fine by me. At least now I won't have to pack my stuff again." He muttered, earning a laugh from the Chairman.

"Thank you for your understanding. I don't know what the holdup is, but I guess it all worked out in the end." Yukari blinked.

"Holdup?" She asked. "But wasn't that- You know what, forget. It doesn't matter anymore." DJ couldn't help but chuckle. Yukari's reactions were so adorable.

"Glad to have you onboard DJ." Akihiko said, shaking his hand. "I'm glad to know you'll be helping us out."

"Don't mention it." DJ said, smiling back him. "It's the least I could do."

"Plus you're already on pretty good terms with Yukari." The boxer said, making the girl blush and the disk jockey smirk.

"Nah, I just call her Yu-Chan to get her flustered. But we are friends, that much is for sure." He explained. Akihiko nodded, letting out a small chuckle. Yukari didn't know why, but she felt a knot in her stomach after DJ said that. It just made her... sad.

"KL." Mitsuru said, getting DJ's attention. "Thank you for joining us. We need all the help we can get." DJ smiled before giving her a thumbs up, making her raise an eyebrow. "Um… Okay...?" DJ couldn't help but let out a small laugh at Mitsuru's reaction.

" _Guess she doesn't get out much."_ He thought. _"Then again, she is the_ _heiress_ _to the_ _ **Kirijo Group**_ _, and I doubt they'd let her live a normal life…"_ He shook his head, driving out his previous thoughts. _"Can't let depressing thoughts plague my head now! I finally got a few answers around here, and while it wasn't much, I got something to work with! Now all that's left is for me to find out what this_ _ **Dark Hour**_ _really is! Nothing could possibly ruin this moment!"_

 _ **KA-SHH!**_

DJ nearly felt his heart jump out of his throat when he heard that loud glass breaking sound from… who knows where. He saw the world around him grow darker as time seemed to slow down into a complete stop.

" _What the-"_

He couldn't even finish his inner monologue as a white card descended in front of him. On it had the picture of a young man carrying a bag, happily skipping down a trail with a dog by his side. Another interesting thing was the number zero it had written on it.

" _ **Thou hast forged a new**_ _ **bond**_ _ **."**_

"Wa~h!" DJ yelled as the voice rang in his ears. Just where the heck did that come from?!

" _ **Thou**_ _ **shalt**_ _ **have our blessing when thou chooseth to create a Persona of the Fool Arcana."**_

And with that, the card disappeared into nothingness in a bright flash of light.

...

 _"What the_ _ **hell**_ _was that?!"_

And then the room was brightened again, and everyone in it was staring at DJ as if he had grown a second head.

An awkward silence passed between them.

"Are… you okay DJ?" Akihiko asked. "You kinda spaced out there for a moment and then you just… screamed." DJ blinked.

"O-Oh!" He let out a nervous chuckle."I-I-I... saw a spider?" He sheepishly said. Ikutsuki, Akihiko and Yukari all gave him unamused glances. But he wasn't expecting Mitsuru to get wide eyed and nearly jump off the couch, earning stares from everyone.

"I-I see..." She muttered, looking away in a vain attempt to hide her red cheeks. Who knew Mitsuru of all people had a case of arachnophobia? "A-Anyway, it's getting late. I'd suggest you all get some rest." As if on cue, Yukari let out a yawn.

"I'm all down for that." She said before walking out the room. Akihiko stretched his good arms and left after her, Ikutsuki following suite, leaving DJ alone with Mitsuru.

"So, you going to bed?" DJ asked. The red shook her head.

"Unfortunately, I still have a few things I have to take care of first." She said, noticeably downcast.

"Well that sucks." DJ said, earning a small smile on her face. "You need a hand with anything? The senior shook her head.

"No, I don't believe I'll need any assistance." She said, eyeing him. "Thank you for the offer though."

"Don't mention it." He said, walking towards the door. "If you need anything, just give me a shout."

"...Wait." DJ stopped and turned on his heel, only to see a very flustered Mitsuru looking down at the ground. "Um... Where did you say that you saw that sp-spider?"

Oh, this was too good to be true.

The great Mitsuru Kirijo, heiress to one of the biggest companies in all of Japan, the woman with dozens of secrets regarding the Dark Hour, secrets he was going to uncover... was afraid of spiders.

Wow.

A sly grin grew on his face. He put a hand in his chin in a thinker pose. He had two options here. Screw around with her and try to get a few more answers regarding this whole Dark Hour thing or just mess around with her...

Meh, he could interrogate her later. A little fun never hurt anyone.

"Hm... I think it was on that lamp." DJ had to bite his tongue to prevent his laughter from escaping. He bit even harder when he noticed Mitsuru subconsciously step away from the lamp.

"I-Is that so?" She asked, still somewhat bashful. "T-Thank you KL, I-I... was just wondering is all."

"Than what's with the can of bug spray?" He asked, wondering where the hell did she grab that can from. Mitsuru blushed and hid the can behind her. "I-It's nothing!"

DJ chuckled. "Hehe. That's adorable." He said, making the redhead stare at him. "You're really cute when you're embarrassed Kirijo-Senpai." With that he turned around. "G'night Senpai."

"G-Good night.. KL." Mitsuru whispered as she watched him walk away. As soon as he was out of earshot, she sighed. Her perfect chance to try and get some answers regarding his identity, and it all goes downhill because of one stupid spider.

And she could tell he was suspicious of her. He was acting friendly. A little too friendly. She could tell he knew about her... _knowledge_ of the Dark Hour. It was obvious, seeing as how hesitant he seemed when she told him that excuse on his first night here.

His true identity, being hidden beneath this "DJ" façade of his and her knowledge of the Dark Hour, hidden beneath her legacy. They were both keeping secrets from each other. It was only a matter of time before one of them caved first.

 _"You're really cute when you're embarrassed."_

...Mitsuru couldn't tell why, but there was something about the way he said it that seemed... familiar. As if she heard someone say that before. Albeit, it was a bit embarrassing, but it still felt... warm.

She glanced back at the door where he once stood. "...Just what is it that you're hiding KL?"

* * *

 _ **4/18 (Sat) - DARK HOUR**_

* * *

...

...

...

"...Hi, how are you?"

!

DJ's eyes shot open she that child like voice ringed in his ears. Sitting up, the disk jockey was greeted to the sight of the kid in prison garb, the same one he net in his first day, sitting on his bed.

He blinked.

The boy copied.

"...Za?!" DJ nearly shrieked, backing up against the wall. "It's you!" The child chuckled, making DJ even more terrified. "Who are you?! And more importantly, how did you get in here?!"

"I'm always with you..." The boy said, his smile not fading. DJ gulped and back away even further.

"Crap, I really did sell my soul, didn't I?" He muttered, earning another laugh.

"It's nothing like that." The child said. "I'm just here to tell you something..." His smile didn't fade, but DJ noticed something in his eyes... Sadness? "Soon the end will come." Say what now? "I remembered, so I thought I should tell you."

"The end?" The disk jockey asked, relaxing a bit. Now he was curious. "The end of what?"

"The end of _everything_."

A pregnant silence fell between the two. The boy with his unreadable smiling expression and DJ staring at him with wide eyes.

"...W-What?" DJ squeaked. He really hoped he didn't hear that correctly. With everything that's happened recently, chances are what this kid was saying is true. "What do you mean?"

"To be honest... I don't really know what it is." Well, DJ had a hard time trying to find out whether that calmed him down or whether it made him even more frightened. The boy got off the bed and turned to him. "By the way, I saw that you unlocked your power." DJ blinked.

"...You were there." He whispered. "I saw you before I summoned Orpheus. You and..." He scratched his head. Those last two people he saw before his awakening... Who were they? Dammit, why couldn't he remember this earlier. Igor could've answered him...

"You know your power is very unusual " The prison boy said. DJ quirked an eyebrow.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Your power can take many forms, but is bound by none..." The child explained. "It may prove to be your salvation, depending on where you end up." The child vanished from DJ's sight and reappeared in front of the window. "Do you remember when we first met?" Prison boy asked, earning a slow nod from DJ, who was a bit spooked by his sudden disappearance. "I expect you to honor your commitment..." DJ blinked. That sounded a lot like what Igor said to him.

"Don't worry..." DJ assured him. "I will honor my deal. I'll take full responsibility for my actions. I swear it." The boy smiled at him.

"Even when those actions involve lying to your friends?" DJ blinked. What... What was he getting at? "You should know that better than anyone else. After all, what does "KL" stand for anyway?"

The disk jockey froze.

"...Shut it." He said scoffing, much to the boy's amusement. "The name's DJ now, and I have every damn right to keep things to myself, so back off." The boy pondered for a moment before nodding.

"Very well. Still, using the nickname your father gave you as a full one doesn't seem like such a bright idea." The boy raised his hands in defense when DJ glared at him. "I kid, I kid... Just remember, I'll be watching you, even if you forget about me... Okay then, see you later!" The boy exclaimed before disappearing from the room.

DJ stared at the window where the child stood. That was... bizarre. It was nice to know that the kid wasn't a figment of his imagination, but there was still something... off about that entire conversation.

He didn't even want to think about how the kid knew... _that_ name. He always hated it when someone said _that_ name. One of the reasons he came back to Iwatodai in the first place... At least he didn't say the _full_ name, then he would've socked the kid upside the head.

He sighed. The day still left many unanswered questions. How much does Mitsuru know about the Dark Hour? How did it come to be? What about that card and that voice in his head from earlier? What... _end_ was that kid talking about? And who were those two people in that vision he had?

"This is way to insane..." DJ muttered. He laid back down and sighed. "Kid woke me up too... At least there's no school tomorrow." He yawned and shut his eyes. As much as he wanted those answers, they wouldn't be coming anytime soon. He silently hummed Burn My Dread before falling asleep thinking tomorrow wouldn't be as eventful as the past few days had been.

He was wrong.

* * *

 _ **SAVE GAME?  
YES -  
NO**_

 _ **SAVING...**_

 _ **SAVED.**_


	5. The Jouney: Part IV

_**Persona 3 FES:  
"Advent of the Fool"**_

 _ **LOAD DATA  
1\. DATE: 4/19 (Sun) Kirijo Dorm  
PLV2 - DJKL**_

 _ **LOAD THIS GAME?  
YES -  
NO**_

 _ **LOADING...**_

 _ **LOADED.**_

* * *

 _ **4/19 (Sun) – EVENING  
FULL MOON IN: 20**_

* * *

"A~nd finished!" DJ cheered as he organized the papers on his desk. "I'm finally done with that assignment Mr. Ekoda gave us. Honestly, a twenty page assignment in the beginning of the school year is completely ridiculous... At least he let me turn it in late because I was unconscious." He placed the stack of papers to the side and stretched his arms. "And now for the rest of the day..." He smiled as he picked up his 3DS. "Video games!"

"DJ!" A Yukari's voice called out, stopping him before he even touched the game system. "Can you come down here? Akihiko-senpai wants to tell us something!" DJ stared at the door and then back at the console.

"...Aw man." He grumbled, getting up and leaving his room. "Coming!" He yelled as he made his way back to the living room. There he saw Yukari and Akihiko, both waiting near the front door. DJ whistled quickly, getting their attention. "I'm here, so what's up?"

Yukari nodded in agreement. "Yeah, what's this all about Senpai?"

"There's someone I wanna introduce." The senior said, earning confused glances from the second-years. He glanced back at the door. "Hey, hurry up!"

"Hold your horses... This thing is freakin' heavy."

The second-years blinked. That sounded a lot like...

The door opened, and Junpei came in carrying a large suitcase. Both DJ and Yukari's jaw dropped.

"Junpei?!" They both shouted, only earning a pleased smirk from the baseball cap wearing man.

"Hehe! Wazzup?" He greeted, ignoring their flabbergasted expressions. Akihiko gestured to him.

"This is Junpei Iori from Class 2-F. He'll be staying here as of today." The senior said. DJ stared at him in disbelief.

"Here?" He asked, earning a nod in response. "But that means he..."

"That's right. He has the potential." Their jaws dropped again. "But he's only awakened to it recently. I told him about us and he agreed to help." Yukari looked at the newcomer.

" _You_ have the potential?! For real?!" She yelled. DJ pinched his arm to see if he wasn't dreaming. Unfortunately for him, he wasn't.

"Yep!" Junpei said, straightening his cap. He pointed to Akihiko. "He found me crying like a baby in a convenience store surrounded by a bunch of coffins." The two sweatdropped as they imagined the scene. That... _did_ sound like how Junpei would react to the Dark Hour. "I don't remember much... But man, that was embarrassing. He said that it's, you know, completely normal... in the beginning. You know, being confused and not remembering stuff... Did that happen to you too?" DJ scratched his head.

"I think I was a bit shocked the first few times, but then I got used to it..." He muttered. Junpei grinned at his answer and continued.

"But man, I was shocked to find out about you guys." He said, his look becoming a bit serious. It was... strange seeing Junpei like that. "I had no idea. But I'm glad I'm not the only one. It can get pretty lonely, ya know?"

"We can imagine."The two said simultaneously, earning a pout from Junpei.

"Hey, what's with that expression?" He asked, feeling a but miffed. "Aren't you guys glad I joined?"

"I'm not complaining about getting a new member..." DJ said. "But the fact that _you're_ the new member is a bit... unexpected." Junpei pouted as Yukari agreed with him.

"Geez dude, that's harsh..." He muttered, looking downcast. Akihiko noticed a sudden rise in tension and cleared his throat, getting everyone's attention.

"Well, enough with the introductions." He said, looking at the three. "I think we're about ready..." This earned him confused glances from everyone.

"Ready?" DJ asked, tilting his head to the side. "Ready for what?"

"Are we doing something?" Junpei asked excitedly. If DJ could compare him to anything, it would be a little kid in a candy store. "Sweetness!"

Akihiko continued. "With this many people, we can start exploring that place." The three blinked. Only Yukari seemed to understand what he meant by that.

"You mean... _**Tartarus**_...?" She asked, earning a nod in response. DJ and Junpei however seemed a bit out of the loop.

"Tartarus...?" Junpei asked. "What's that? Sound like toothpaste." Ignoring the urge to facepalm, DJ decided to add his two cents in.

"Isn't that the name of the deepest part of Hell in Greek mythology?" He asked. The explanation seemed to make Junpei pale as Akihiko nodded.

"We named it after that. For a good reason too." He said. "We think we can the find the reason for the Dark Hour there." DJ raised an eyebrow. That was a pretty interesting theory...

"I sure hope so..." Yukari muttered, looking at the floor.

"The Chairman will give us the details tomorrow night, so be ready." The trio nodded as Akihiko left them, trying to imagine how tomorrow will be like and what this "Tartarus" was like.

* * *

 _ **4/20 (Mon) – LUNCHTIME  
FULL MOON IN: 19**_

* * *

"Wha~t! No way dude!" Junpei whined at DJ. Lunch had just started and most of the students had either left to get lunch or just to goof off. "There's no way a 3DS is better than PSP!"

The device in question was in DJ's hands, who was happily playing The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds until Junpei called him out out of nowhere. What started as a little disagreement turned into a mini console war.

"Are you really gonna argue about something like that?" DJ asked him, not even bothering to look up from his game. "I won't deny that the PSP has some pretty good games, but the 3DS is still superior. It's next gen, has better games and-" He turned the 3D effect on and off. "has 3D without glasses."

"Please!" Junpei waved his hand in front of him. "That 3D is suckish and you know it! The PSP has a better interface and it has a lot cooler titles! Most of the games for that thing are for kids!"

"You do know that there's a Resident Evil game for this thing, a remake of Xenoblade Chronicles _and_ a remake of a Metal Gear Solid game, right?"

"Yeah, there are a few games like that, but most of them are kiddy! Like that Zelda game your playing! Plus, who names their kid Zelda? That a stupid name for a blonde dude."

"... _Link_ is _not_ Zelda. And I take it you've never played Majora's Mask."

"Major what?"

"Exactly."

Yukari facepalmed as the two continued to exchange their witty banter. Boys and their toys. She yawned as she watched Junpei try to pry the device out of DJ's hands, who was struggling to keep his hold on it.

"I thought I was gonna fall asleep in there." She muttered, rubbing her eye to try and stay awake. It was another one of Ekoda's classes, so it was pretty easy to end up falling asleep. The sound of the door opening got her attention.

Much to her and the rest of the class's surprise, Mitsuru walked in. The class immediately began whispering amongst themselves as Mitsuru walked towards Yukari.

"Excuse me Takeba," She started. "but can I have minute..." She trailed off as her gaze fell to the two boys. The 3DS was left abandoned on DJ's desk and the two had started wrestling. DJ held Junpei in a head lock and gave him a rather violent noogie while Junpei cried out in pain. The redhead's eye twitched before she cleared her throat, getting their attention.

The two paled even before they felt the room temperature go down.

"As I was saying." Mitsuru continued once the two let go of each other. "Come to the lounge when you get back to the dorm. I have something to tell everyone."

"Oh, are we having that talk?" Junpei asked. DJ raised an eyebrow. Was there really a need to ask something so obvious?

"I'll save the details later... Now-" She glared at the two boys, who tensed up instantly. "If I find you two acting like that again, you two _will_ be _executed_." The two shuddered just at the mere thought of what would happen to them. "Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes Senpai!" The two yelled together, saluting. Mitsuru stared for a moment before nodding and walked out of the classroom.

"...Well that was terrifying." DJ muttered, shutting off his 3DS.

"Yeah..." Junpei said. "You know she didn't waste anytime leaving..."

Yukari scoffed and looked away. "She's probably busy with things like Student Council, unlike us." The two males blinked and stared at the girl, who shifted uncomfortably. "What?"

"Woah Yuka-tan! Do I sense some hostility?" Junpei asked, surprised.

"It does look like you two don't always see eye-to-eye." DJ said, agreeing with Junpei. The girl sighed and looked away.

"Well, it's not that I don't like her..." She defended. "She's just..."

"...Secretive?" DJ asked on a whim. Unsurprisingly though, Yukari nodded.

"I just don't like it when people hide things from others..." She muttered. "It's like they don't trust you at all..."

"Yeah.. It does suck when you find out someone you know has been keeping things from you..." Junpei added, unknowingly stabbing the proverbial knife in DJ's chest even further. DJ winced and looked away.

As much as he hated having to lie to them, it was for the best... And unfortunately for him, the day was only bound to get worse.

* * *

 _ **4/20 (Mon) - EVENING**_

* * *

The trip back to the dorm was rather uneventful. DJ and Junpei would make a small comment about their console war and occasionally crack a joke somewhere in the middle. Needless to say, it felt nice just walking home with a friend. Yukari had already gone ahead of them, but the two really didn't mind.

After everyone had arrived was a different story. After DJ and Junpei took their seats, Ikutsuki adjusted his glasses and cleared his throat, getting everyone's attention.

"Okay, everyone's here." He started. "I'd like your undivided attention." Everyone had their eyes on him as he kept talking. "A while back, Mitsuru and Akihiko were the Persona users we had. But that number has recently jumped up to five. Therefore..." He glanced at everyone. "Starting tonight at 12:00 AM, I would like to commence the exploration of Tartarus."

"Uh~... Mr. Chairman?" Junpei started, getting everyone's attention. "I asked this yesterday, but what is this Tartarus thing again?"

"I second that question." DJ said. "It has to be something really bad if you're naming it after Hell itself." Yukari raised an eyebrow.

"You two haven't seen it?" She asked. She sighed when they shook their heads.

"It's no surprise" Ikutsuki started. "since it only appears in the Dark Hour." The two boys blinked.

"The Dark Hour...?" Junpei trailed off. "How does that work?"

"It's just like the Shadows." Akihiko grinned, his hand tightening into a fist. "Plus it's the perfect place for us to train. You can think of it as a Shadow nest."

"Woah... Their nest, huh?" Junpei grinned, getting excited. DJ scratched the back of his head.

"That... sounds nice." He muttered. In all honesty, he was not looking forward to literally diving into a place filled with Shadows. They named it "Tartarus" for a reason. "But what about your arm Senpai?" Akihiko blinked before grimacing.

"Since Akihiko is still injured" Mitsuru started, glaring at the white haired boxer. "he'll only come as far as the entrance."

"Don't remind me..." The boxer muttered, looking away. Ikutsuki chuckled at the sight.

"Well, I'm sure he won't complain, as long as you don't go too far in." He said. The three second-years nodded. This would be the first time anyone would go there, so it was common sense not to get too over their heads. "Since we're dealing with Shadows, Tartarus isn't something we can avoid."

The sound of Junpei's chair sliding on the ground, got everyone's attention. Junpei stood up with a smirk and pointed at himself. "Relax, I've got your backs!" Everyone sweatdropped at the scene.

"I'm not so sure about this..." Yukari muttered.

"About Tartarus or being protected by Junpei?" DJ asked her.

"Both."

"Hey!"

"Continuing." Mitsuru said flatly, making every shut up immediately. "What about you Mr. Chairman?"

"I'll be staying here." He said. The disk hockey of the group raised an eyebrow. "As you know, I can't summon a Persona..."

"So you being in the field would be useless for us, right?" DJ said, making the Chairman sink in his chair. "Oops... Sorry for putting it bluntly..."

"I-It's fine..." The Chairman muttered before sitting back up. "Well, you should all be on your way." Junpei pumped a fist in the air.

"Awesome!" He cheered. "So where is Tartarus anyway?"

* * *

 _ **4/20 (Mon) LATE NIGHT**_

* * *

There was something about this walk to Tartarus that felt... strange. Not strange in a "I feel really weird." way more like a "This is way too familiar." kind of way. Even more so when DJ realized what route they were on.

The same one he used to go to school.

They stopped in front of the school gate, now locked for obvious reasons. DJ wasn't the only one looking confused. Junpei stared at the gate strangely before looking at his seniors.

" _This_ is the place?" He asked, raising his eyebrow. "Why _here_? Are you sure we didn't take a wrong turn or something?"

"Just wait a few minutes." Akihiko muttered, looking at the time on his cell phone. "It's almost midnight."

"What, does the portal show up here?" DJ asked, earning a few stares. "What? It's a portal to some bizarre other world, isn't it?"

Tick...

Tick...

Tick...

 _ **CRASH!**_

* * *

 _ **4/20 (Mon) - DARK HOUR**_

* * *

And the world turned green again. That was nothing new to DJ...

Now the sound of bending metal and a sickening crunching sound? That was new.

The ground rumbled for a moment as the school in front of the high school students twisted and shifted like some kind of giant puzzle. It grew in size every second as spirals and spikes came out of the ginormous construction. The school became so tall, one could say that it practically touched the moon. And in an instant, where the school once stood, now stood a monstrous tower with the most bizarre and horrifying architecture anyone had ever seen.

DJ and Junpei's jaws dropped as they gapped at the monstrous visage before them. In fact, everyone seemed unnerved by the newly presented tower.

"This is Tartarus." Mitsuru said as the initial shock died down. "The labyrinth that reveals itself during the Dark Hour."

"Wow..." Yukari muttered. "It's even scarier up close... What do you guy-" She stopped when she notices their flabbergasted expressions. "Um... Gu-"

"What happened to our school?!" The two yelled together, startling everyone.

"Don't worry." Mitsuru said, hoping to calm the two down. "Once the Dark Hour passes, everything returns to normal."

" _This_ is the nest you guys were talking about?!" Junpei yelled, taking a step back.

"Why did our school turn into a freakin' tower?!" DJ yelled. Mitsuru stayed quiet, looking off to the side. The disk jockey blinked. Could she... "You don't know either?"

"...No." She said, confirming DJ's suspicions. Hesitation to answer something so simple could only mean one thing.

 _"She's lying."_ His mind told him. As much as he'd like to press on, he really didn't have a very good argument here. _"But at least now I know she has a bigger connection to the Dark Hour than she lets on..."_

"I'm sure it's complicated." Yukari said, though there was a strange hint of suspicion in her voice. "Who cares anyway? It's not like we'd change our minds about fighting..." Mitsuru winced, though no one present noticed.

"Well, maybe now we'll find out." Akihiko said. He jabbed his thumb in the tower's direction. "Me and Mitsuru have only gone in to take a peek. This'll be our first time exploring it. Pretty exciting, huh?" His grin replaced itself with a more solemn expression. "There has to be some sort of clue in here about the Dark Hour..." DJ blinked.

If there's one thing his little investigation managed to discover is that Mitsuru knew more things about the Dark Hour than Akihiko. The boxer knew his fair share of info, but there was just something that made it seem like Mitsuru knew more. She was keeping even him in the dark. He need to remember to write that down in his dia- Er... _Investigation Notebook_.

"Akihiko." Mitsuru started. "I respect your enthusiasm, but you won't be accompanying us today." Akihiko said nothing and just looked away, mumbling to himself. Mitsuru sighed and walked towards the gate. With a swift motion, she unlocked it. "Now then, shall we go in?"

* * *

The sight inside the main room of Tartarus wasn't as terrifying as the sight outside. In fact, one could even call it artistic. It was the only place during the Dark Hour that wasn't all green, as far as DJ could tell anyway. The room seemed endless with a sea of columns in the background. The marble tiles made the room seem to glow, as multiple colors we seen across the floor. But what got everyone's attention was the large staircase in the center, one that led to a large door connected to an even large clock.

"Whoa..." Junpei muttered, looking around. "It's just as cool on the inside."

"It's even creepier in here too..." Yukari whispered, looking up at the clock ahead of them.

"This is only the entrance." Mitsuru explained. "The labyrinth itself is through the doorway at the top of the stairs."

"We're sending you three up to get a good feel of the place." Akihiko said. The three blinked.

"...By ourselves?" DJ asked incredulously. "I know _you_ can't go, but what about Mitsuru-senpai?"

"The structure of Tartarus shifts and changes every day." She explained. "Because of this, outside support is imperative. My Persona's ability can allow me to scan and detect the shadows, although it can't go very far..."

"So you're our support?" He asked, earning a nod. "Great..."

"You guys weren't planning on coming with us the first place, were you?" Junpei asked, scratching the back of his neck. Akihiko shook his head.

"Nope." He stated bluntly. "Anyway, we're gonna need to appoint a field least to make any necessary decisions..." Junpei immediately lit up like a Christmas tree.

"For real?! Me me me! Pick me! Pick me!" He yelled raising his hand in the air. His two teammates sweatdropped at his childish actions.

"..." Akihiko stayed quiet as he scanned the three in front of him. Junpei was... out of the question. Too rash and childish, a very bad combination. Then there was Yukari. She had been with them the longest, but she still wasn't comfortable with summoning her Persona. That only left... "KL, you're in charge."

...

"Za?!" DJ took a step back. Yukari and Junpei looked at him, surprised. "Me?!"

"W-Wait! Why him?!" Junpei protested. "He doesn't even look like a leader!"

"While I do feel insulted by that," DJ glared at Junpei before continuing. "I have to agree. I ain't leader material! Trust me when I say that I am not a good choice for this." There was absolutely no way he was going to be the leader. He hated being in charge of things…

"...Well you _have_ fought them before..." Yukari said shyly, making DJ blink. That... was true. Between the three of them, he was the only one who had ever fought a Shadow. Yukari didn't exactly count seeing as she was nearly useless that night.

"Seriously?!" Junpei asked, looking at DJ in astonishment. The disk jockey winced and he put his sunglasses over his eyes in a vain attempt to hide his embarrassed expression.

"Fighting two mediocre Shadows... _and_ a big one doesn't make me leader material Yukari..." He muttered. "Anyone could do it."

"That's true, but there's another reason why I'm making him the leader." Akihiko said while walking up to the three. "You two..." He muttered, looking at Junpei and Yukari. The boxer took out his Evoker and pointed it at his head "Can you summon your Persona without any difficulties like _he_ can?"

...

Crud... DJ had forgotten about _that_ little detail. It took ages for Yukari to try to summon hers, and even then it didn't work correctly. As for Junpei… Well, this was the first time DJ even saw him with an Evoker. DJ on the other hand managed to summon Orpheus a grand total of three times that night without question. He just… did it.

Junpei visually tensed up, but he tried to put a brave face on. "Y-Yeah, of course I can!" He stuttered. Not convincing anyone in the room. Yukari looked somewhat downcast.

"I… think so…" She squeaked. Their answers only made Akihiko sigh.

"These are Shadows we're talking about." He said, glaring at both of them. "Without your Persona, you're screwed." He glanced back at DJ. "Through elimination, the only one fit to be the leader here is you, DJ." The disk jockey grimaced before sighing.

"Fine... I'll lead tonight, but I'm not making any promises on later nights." He said. Akihiko smirked.

"I'm sure you'll change your mind later." He said. The disk jockey muttered some incomprehensible under his breath.

"So how are we gonna defend ourselves in there?" Junpei asked, looking up the staircase. "We're not going in there empty handed, are we?"

"No Iori, you're not." Mitsuru said. She gestured behind her. To be more precise, she gestured to large crate behind her.

"...How'd we miss that?" Yukari deadpanned. She got no clear response however.

"Each of you will be given a weapon." The redhead explained. "I'd suggest picking something you're comfortable with."

"Sweetness!" Junpei cheered before running towards the crate. DJ and Yukari followed him. Before the disk jockey got close however, Mitsuru stopped him.

"Hm?"

"KL. I've been analyzing your battle with the shadows that night." She started, getting no direct reaction from him. "I couldn't help but notice your handicap due to your... disability." DJ's eye twitched slightly.

"Where are you going with this?" He asked, the conversation already getting on his nerves.

"Simply put, I had the Kirijo Group create a prosthetic leg for you." The boy blinked.

"Za?"

She sighed before walking over to the crate. Junpei had already opened it and went gaga over all the different weapons before finally settling on a long sword. She bent over and took out a prosthetic leg much like his own, with few differences.

For one thing, his normal one was pitch black in color. This one was plated in chrome and a very glossy shine to it. DJ could even see his own reflection in it. In terms if size, it looked about the same, but he'd have to put it on to tell.

Mitsuru handed the fake limb to the boy, who continued staring at it.

"...You had this made for me?" He asked, looking up at her.

"I took the liberty of using your current one as a model while you were unconscious." She explained. "In terms of weight, shape and size, it is completely identical to the one you're wearing now."

The boy peeked inside the leg, trying to find some kind of defect. "Than what makes it any different?"

"The metal is the same one used the create our anti-Shadow weapons." She said, earning a look of surprise for the brunette. "Its material is much stronger than your normal one, so it should be able to better suit your fighting style." He blinked before smirking.

"So you noticed, huh?" He asked, earning a nod. He chuckled before taking off his right boot. "Give me a minute to put this thing on." The redhead nodded and the boy began rolling up is pants.

"Hey, what's taking so- Holy crap dude! What happened to your leg?!" Junpei yelled as soon as hew saw DJ's prosthetic limb. The disk jockey winced. He had forgotten Junpei didn't know about it yet. He sighed before sitting down and taking off the original leg.

"Lost it." He said simply. Junpei started sputtering incomplete words, trying to formulate a sentence as DJ put on the new leg.

"Lay off it Stupei." Yukari said, getting the capped boy's attention. DJ chuckled at her nickname for him. "It's not nice to gawk at something like that."

"B-But I... He..." He couldn't find anything to say. DJ stood back up and tapped his new prosthetic on the floor.

Mitsuru was right. It really didn't feel any different than the one he had early. It was a bit colder, but it had never been used before, so it made sense.

"Not bad..." He muttered before walking towards his team. "Ready?"

"Just about." Yukari said, fixing her quiver. Junpei stilled stared at the DJ's leg strangely, earning himself a light kick in the shin with said leg.

"Don't stare." He said. Junpei nodded in agreement. The disk jockey looked over to his seniors. "Anything else?"

"Just one more thing." Akihiko said before Instantly strapping something to DJ's wrist. He blinked twice before glancing at the device.

It looked like a white wristband with a large rectangular screen on it. It had five buttons. One on the side, two on the top and two on the bottom. The boxer placed similar devices on Yukari and Junpei, who played with the new toy.

"'The hell is this for?" DJ asked, looking at the device. Akihiko walked up and pressed the button on the side. DJ winced when he felt something sharp stab into his wrist. "What was that?!"

"Look at the screen and see." Mitsuru said bluntly. The brunette looked at her in confusion before looking back at the screen. It had turned on and now was showing very... interesting details.

"Stamina? Spiritual Power?" He read out loud. He heard Junpei and Yukari yelp as they turned their devices on too. "What is all this?"

"Those are your Personal Status Regulators, or PSRs for short." Mitsuru explained. "The PSR's main function is to show your current status and fatigue levels. The screen you're on is the home page, which you can get to by pressing button one. It displays your personal data." DJ blinked before looking at the device. The aside from the power button on the side, the other buttons were all numbered.

"That's... pretty cool." DJ admitted. A device like this could really come in handy. "What else can it do?"

"Button two will show you you're current party member's statistics. Button three will allow you to see your Persona's abilities and statistics. Finally, button four will let you see an index of every Shadow you faced, along with their specific weaknesses, after they've been scanned of course." The redhead explained. DJ pressed each button on the device and each one did as she said.

"Not bad... But was stabbing our wrists really necessary?" He asked.

"How else are we supposed to get your vitals?"

"I don't know... Our pulses our something?"

"This isn't a video game KL."

"...I don't know why, but I feel some strange feeling of irony when you say that." DJ muttered, earning a blank stare from Mitsuru. "Now is _that_ all, or is there anything else you have to give us?" The redhead shook her head, much to the boy's relief.

"No, I believe that's everything." She said, walking back towards Akihiko. "Akihiko and I will both stay here giving support. Good luck in there, and be careful."

"Hell yeah!" Junpei shouted before running up the stairs. Yukari sighed and ran after him, telling to slow down. DJ rolled his eyes and took one step...

 _ **KA-SHH!**_

The boy froze. A light velvet glow to his left caught his attention.

"KL?" Mitsuru started, noticing his sudden stop. "What's wrong?" DJ ignored her and started walking towards the blue door that had magically materialized.

"...So this is what he meant." The disk jockey muttered, fishing for the Velvet Key in his pocket. He smiled when he saw the key glow as it got closer to the door. "Alright Igor..." He unlocked the door. "I'm coming in."

* * *

DJ blinked as the world around him suddenly turned blue.

"We've been expecting you." A woman's voice said. The disk jockey blinked when he saw Elizabeth and Theodore standing there. However, what surprised him was the fact that Igor wasn't present.

"Hey, where's Igor?" He asked, looking around. The two attendants chuckled and gestured for him to sit down. He obliged.

"I'm afraid that the Master had other duties to attend too." Theodore said, making the boy blink.

"He can leave here?" He asked, earning a nod from Theo.

"Of course. Although the Master did show some disappointment when he discovered he couldn't greet you here himself." He bowed his head. "But he does send his regards." DJ blinked and nodded.

"That's... nice of him..." He looked back at the two attendants. "So what am I here for?"

"You are about to begin your _**journey**_." Elizabeth started, her playful expression not leaving her face. "Which means it is time we explain the true nature of your power."

DJ tilted his head, confused. "What do you mean?" He asked. "I'm a Persona user. Isn't that my power?"

"Not... entirely." Elizabeth said, walking up to him. She opened the large book she held and a mysterious blue light shined out of it. "Our Master explains it like this... Your power is like the number zero. It's empty, but it holds limitless possibilities."

"And that's... good?"

"What my sister means" Theo said, earning a glare from his sister. "is that you have the ability to possess multiple Personas, and summon them when needed."

"Za?" DJ deadpanned. "I can use more than one?" A small surge of pain went through his head as he recalled a large creature in a black cloak. "...Ow..."

"I was _getting_ to that _dear_ brother." Elizabeth said. She was still smiling, but it was quite easy to see she was angry at her brother, who paled at the way she was talking to him. "As I was saying... That ability is known as the _**Wild Card**_."

"Wild Card..." DJ muttered. "That sounds so badass..." Elizabeth giggled before snapping her fingers, making the Velvet Door behind DJ glow.

"I'm afraid your time here must be scarce. Time is still going on in your world, and I'm afraid your friends are starting to get worried." The disk jockey blinked before jumping out of his seat.

"You couldn't have told me that sooner?! " He yelled before rushing towards the door. "I should've thought this through. I bet to them I just disappeared out of nowhere! Anyway, thanks for telling me about my power! Bye!" He opened the door and-

* * *

And he blinked at the sight of Junpei and Yukari's worried faces in front of him. Mitsuru and Akihiko were a bit farther away from him, also looking at him worriedly.

"DJ? Are you alright?" Yukari asked, walking closer to him.

"Hey dude, you just spaced out and started staring at the wall... You look like a zombie." Junpei asked. DJ blinked before shaking his head.

"I-I just opened this door and..." He said before stopping. The looks on their faces was more than enough to tell him they wouldn't believe him. Apparently, he was the only one who could see that door. "...Forget it. I thought I saw something..." Yukari sighed in relief and Junpei rolled his eyes.

"You can't just dose off like that man." He berated. "You're supposed to be our _leader_." He turned around and headed towards the stairs. DJ winced. Apparently Junpei was still a bit sour about the whole leader thing... Not that he wanted to be the leader anyway.

"Sorry about that..." He started following him, gesturing for Yukari to come along. "Come on! Let's get this over with." The girl nodded and the two walked after their capped teammate.

* * *

 _ **TARTARUS  
THEBEL 1F**_

* * *

"Man, this is creepy..." DJ said as he and his team took their first steps into the labyrinth. The world was back to the sickly green hue it usually was during the Dark Hour. The walls around them seemed like the schools, but it was stained with red blotches of what looked like blood covering almost everything.

"I know..." Yukari muttered as the grip on her bow tightened. "So this is the Shadow's nest..."

"This is pretty sweet!" Junpei cheered, causing the other two to look at him strangely. Out of the three of them, only Junpei really seemed excited for this whole thing. They had to admire his enthusiasm, that's for sure...

 _"Can you all_ _hear_ _me?"_ A familiar voice in their heads said.

"Woah, is that you Senpai?" Junpei asked, looking around trying to find the redhead senior.

 _"I'll be providing you all audio backup from here on out. My Persona's ability should be of use to you all."_ She said. The three nodded. _"Now based on your current location, you should encounter enemies at any minute. The Shadows here shouldn't be that tough, but I still advise to proceed with caution."_

"Alright... Thanks Senpai." DJ said before turning to his team members. "Alright guys, we're literally stepping into a giant maze filled with monsters..." He took a deep breath. "We have to be careful, so it'd be best if we stay together and walk in slow-"

"Yahoo!" DJ's train of thought was broken when a blur wearing a baseball cap darted passed him at high speeds. "Shadows, here I come!"

"What the- Junpei!" The disk jockey shouted as he and Yukari watched him turn down a corridor.

"Ugh! That idiot!" Yukari whined before the two chased after him. "Can't he stay still for two seconds?!"

"Gotta admire his dedication at least!" DJ shouted back as the two took the turn he took. Unfortunately, Junpei was no longer in sight."Damn... Senpai, can you tell us where he went?"

 _"Down the hall, third turn on the right!"_ DJ muttered a thanks before running where Mitsuru told him. _"KL! Behind you!"_ The disk jockey blinked before turning around, only to see a Shadow lunge at him. He took a quick step back, narrowly dodging the attacker.

"Yikes!" He whined as the black blob picked itself up. Two more blobs appeared next to it, each focusing on DJ. "Crap... Mitsuru, you mind giving me that analysis?"

"I'm on it!" She said as another Shadow took a lunge at DJ. Before it could get close however, an arrow found its way through its body. DJ gave Yukari a thumbs up and she smiled back. The Shadow stood back up and growled at the girl, before turning around to face her, leaving DJ alone with the other two.

The disk jockey charged towards the first one before delivering a swift kick to its mask, making it fall back slightly. He heard the other one try to jump on him, but he quickly turned around around an hit it with an overhead kick. DJ jumped after it a dropped his leg down on it's mask, cracking it slightly, before kicking it into the wall, leaving a black stain on it.

"Hehe. Not bad..." He muttered, tapping his new metal foot on the floor. "This thing really is stronger than my other one. That one got a bit dented when I did this..." He was broken out of his musings when he felt something graze his back. He let out a small hiss as he landed on the floor, his back stinging in pain.

 _"KL! Are you alright?"_ Mitsuru's voice asked as DJ stood back up. The Shadow from earlier managed to land a pretty nasty hit on him.

"Guh... Got careless..." He put his sunglasses over his eyes and glared at the Shadow. "Won't happen again."

"I've finished the analysis. This Shadow is known as a Cowardly Maya, Magician Arcana. It seems like it's weak to fire skills." DJ blinked before smirking, startling the Cowardly Maya.

"Fire, eh?" He took out his Evoker. "Well why didn't you say so? Orpheus!" With the pull of a trigger, the Master of Strings appeared over his head. "Agi!" Orpheus played a melody on his harp before the Shadow was engulfed in a bright red flame. Not even wasting a second, DJ ran up as soon as the flames died down and landed three consecutive kicks to the Shadows face, making it disintegrate. "Ha! Eat that you dark gloomy bastard!" He dusted off his new foot and stood up. "Now to help-"

The last Cowardly Maya roared as another arrow pierced through it's body. Yukari stood not too far away, glaring at the Shadow with her bow in position. She looked completely unscathed. The Shadow on the other hand... Yukari shook her head and shot one last arrow, this one going through the Shadow's mask, destroying it instantly.

DJ raised both eyebrows, impressed. Sure, it was only one Shadow, but she beat it without getting hurt and without a Persona.

"Not bad." He complimented. She let out a breath of relief before smiling at him. Unfortunately, they still had to catch up to a certain capped friend of theirs. "Doesn't Junpei realize that he just dived headfirst into a monster infested labyrinth named after Hell itself?!"

"Oh please, I doubt something like that would faze him." Yukari muttered as they kept following Mitsuru's instructions. "Still, even he should've known better than to run off like that."

"I guess he got caught up in the moment." DJ growled. "This is why being the leader sucks..."

"Why?"

"Because there's always gonna be someone who's not gonna listen to you!"

* * *

 _ **TARTARUS  
THEBEL 2F**_

* * *

It took a while and a stair climb later, but the two finally managed to find Junpei. Their teammate was surrounded by five Cowardly Mayas, but Junpei didn't show any signs of bring worried. A sense of relief came over them when they saw that he was unharmed, but that didn't mean they weren't angry at him for running off.

"Junpei-kun!" DJ yelled, getting the capped boy's attention. "What were you thinking?!"

"Hey guys!" He waved at them, oblivious to their anger towards them "Just in time too! Check this out!" The two blinked in confusion when Junpei took out his Evoker. "Hermes!" With a loud bang, a large silhouette appeared above Junpei.

The Shadows stared as Junpei's Persona manifested itself. A mechanical man wearing a large golden helmet stood above him. On it's arms were what appeared to be wings, but a closer look would reveal them both to be deathly blades.

"Cleave!"

Junpei's Persona didn't hesitate to smash through three of the Shadows around him, wiping them out instantly. Junpei turned around and slashed at one of the other ones, which recoiled in pain and back up. The other clawed at him, just barely grazing his arm before it was kicked away by Junpei. He was about to follow up with another slash when DJ showed up and kicked that Shadow in the mask, destroying it.

"Hey!" Junpei whined. "That was my kill!" He stopped when he saw DJ glare at him. "What?"

"You idiot!" He yelled, making Junpei jump. "Why the hell did you run off like that?!"

"Oh, come on dude!" Junpei glared back at him. "I couldn't just stand around and do nothing! We were brought here to _explore_ the place, remember?"

"That doesn't mean you can just run off like that! First of all, we're a team! Second, running into a monster filled Hellhole is _suicide_!"

"We'll be fine! I managed to summon my Persona now, didn't I?"

"Persona or not, this place is dangerous to go in alone!"

"Stop whining dude! I'm fine!"

"Dammit Junpei, stop being so stubborn!"

"I'm not being stubborn!"

"Yes you are! We can't just charge in here like this!"

"For the last time: I! Got! This!"

Before the DJ could retort, an arrow flew between their heads and impaled the last Cowardly Maya, who was about to pounce on the two bickering teammates while they were distracted. The two turned to Yukari, who was watching them with an unamused expression.

"Are you two done?" She asked, earning sheepish looks from the boys.

 _"Iori."_ Mitsuru's voice made them pale. _"Do you both have any idea how reckless that was?"_ She berated, making the boy in question shrink. _"Not only did you endanger yourself, but you directly disobeyed your assigned leader. I_ _do not_ _expect this to happen again. Are we clear?"_

"Y-Yes Senpai!" Junpei squeaked, earning a light chuckle from DJ.

 _"And KL."_ The boy froze. _"While what Junpei did was completely idiotic, getting into an argument nearly got you both injured. Your supposed to be the leader. Try acting like one."_

"Y-Yes Senpai!" DJ yelled. A moment of silence fell between them. That is until Yukari noticed something coming towards them

"Hey, we got company!" She yelled, pointing at the small group of Shadows coming towards them. DJ and Junpei looked at each other.

"...Truce?" Junpei asked, smirking.

"Truce." DJ tapped his foot on the ground and turned to the Shadows. "I wonder why the only Shadows showing up are these Cowardly Mayas though..."

"Well, this is the beginning dude." Junpei muttered. "We're not supposed to fight the big baddies yet."

"Will you two pay attention?" Yukari berated them, glaring at the Shadows. "Cowardly Maya or not, we need a plan here. There are way to many of them."

"...Good point..." DJ muttered, looking back at the approaching group. "Mitsuru-senpai? How many are there?"

 _"Seven."_ She said, making DJ wince. They were pretty easy to kill, but their numbers were growing each time they found a new group.

"They're weak to fire..." The disk jockey muttered before glancing at Junpei. "Hermes wouldn't happen to know Agi, does he?" Junpei blinked before smirking. He raised up his PSR and gave DJ a thumbs up. "Perfect."

The Shadows came closer until the noticed the two boys standing there with their Evokers ready.

"You ready?" DJ asked. Junpei nodded in response. The two grinned as they pressed the triggers.

"Orpheus!"

"Hermes!"

Hermes and Orpheus sprung to life, startling the Shadows. Without a moment of hesitation, the two Personas cast a brilliant flame on the Shadow, engulfing all of them in flames. When the flames finally died down, the Cowardly Mayas barely looked capably of moving... Not they they looked like they could to begin with, really.

"Here's our chance!" Yukari yelled. DJ and Junpei didn't even wait for her to finish before charging towards the dazed Shadows, Junpei cut through as many as he could and DJ kicking them around like soccer balls. Yukari stood a few feet away, firing arrows at the few they'd miss or at the ones that would survive their onslaught. With a final cry, DJ, Junpei and Yukari hit the last remaining Shadow at the same time, dissolving it into nothing.

DJ whistled. "Man, that was tight!" he laughed, tapping his foot on the ground. "We should do that more often!"

 _"Nice work pulling of that attack everyone."_ Mitsuru complimented. _"You took advantage of their weakness and managed to take them all out in one fell swoop. Trés bien."_ DJ chuckled. French, huh? Interesting.

" _Ce n'était rien_ _."_ He said back to her. He couldn't see it, but he could tell she was surprised, Junpei and Yukari too.

"See natai rain? What's that?" Junpei asked, scratching his head. Yukari pinched the bridge of her nose in irritation before glaring at the capped boy.

"It's French Stupei..." She muttered before looking at DJ. "I knew Senpai could speak it, but..." DJ chuckled and scratched his cheek.

"Thank Oji-san for that." He explained. "He always said it would be nice to know a different language other than Japanese, so I took a few language courses..."

"A few?"

"English, French, Spanish, Portuguese and German. I was learning Russian but then I had to come here to Iwatodai." He finished. He blinked when he noticed his teammates gaping at him. "What?"

"You speak six languages?!" The two shouted at him, making him wince.

"Seven if you count what I learned in Russian." DJ said. He immediately regretted it when he saw their expressions get even more exaggerated.

 _"That... is quite impressive KL."_ Mitsuru said, getting the disk jockey's attention. _"I myself only learned three languages... Your grandfather must expect you to have a very bright future."_ DJ's eye twitched, which didn't go unnoticed by Yukari.

"Y-Yeah..." He muttered, glancing off to the side. "You could say that... Anyway, let's go guys. We still got time until the Dark Hour ends. Let's keep climbing." His teammates nodded and followed him down the hall. Junpei looked pretty ecstatic to keep on going, but Yukari... Well, she was a bit worried about their leader's reaction just now.

* * *

 _ **TARTARUS  
THEBEL 3F**_

* * *

"H-Hey um... DJ?" Yukari asked, getting the boy's attention. The team had ventured a bit deeper into the tower and had already fought off a few more Shadows. Junpei was walking a bit ahead of them, looking from side to side and jumping around like someone in a wannabe spy movie.

"What's up Yukari-san?" He asked, earning a confused look from the girl before she pouted.

"Oh, _now_ you call me that..." She muttered, glaring at him. "Should've called me that a few nights ago and not that stupid nickname you made..."

"Is this what you wanted to talk with me about?"

"Wha- No!" She sighed and looked him in the eye. "I'm just... a bit worried about you. When Mitsuru mentioned your grandfather earlier you seemed a bit... tense." DJ blinked before looking away, a ghost of a scowl on his face.

"It's nothing important..." He muttered, hoping to get her off his case.

"It is if you're going to act like that about it." She said, making the DJ wince. "DJ please... You don't have to keep something like that to yourself..." DJ could practically feel a knife being stabbed through his heart.

"..." He stayed silent. Should he tell her anything? The whole point he was here was to keep family matters hidden... But... Yukari did tell him about her dad... That was probably pretty tough for her. She was willing to tell him something that hurt her deeply... And here he was keeping secrets from her... From everyone...

"You don't have to tell me if you don't want to..." She muttered, looking downcast. The boy sighed and looked to the side.

"...It's a bit of a burden to me, okay?" He said suddenly, getting her attention. He supposed he could tell her... _some_ of the truth. Like a very tiny fraction of it. "Oji-san runs this... store. And since my dad died, I'm next in line to run it." He sighed. "I really don't like talking about... The gist of the whole thing is that Oji-san wants me to run the business and that I..."

"Don't want to?" Yukari asked, earning a nod from the boy. "Well you can't exactly blame him. He just wants you to have a good future."

"I know! Oji-san is a great man and I love him, but..." DJ sighed. "Being a... store manager isn't what I want in my life..."

"Is that why you didn't want to be the leader? Because being in charge would remind about that?" DJ stayed silent, but Yukari could tell she was right. "I see..." Yukari suddenly smiled and punched him in the arm. "Stop worrying about it." DJ blinked.

"Za?" He asked, looking at her in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"If your grandpa really loves you, he'll understand. Maybe not today, and maybe not tomorrow, but he will eventually." She smiled at him. "So stop beating yourself up over something so silly. If your like this I can only imagine how Mitsuru-senpai feels." DJ nodded. Mitsuru was the heiress to the Kirijo Group and that was a pretty big responsibility... Still, Yukari was just barely scratching the surface of what DJ had to go through.

"Oy! What's taking you guys?" Junpei shouted at them. During their conversation, Junpei had already gotten pretty far ahead of them. DJ rolled his eyes and the two walked towards him.

"Okay guys," DJ started when they all got together. "We've explored long enough. We know there are Shadows here and that's what we came to see. Plus the Dark Hour might end at any minute." He paused. "Speaking of which, how much time do we have Mitsuru-senpai?"

" _About twenty minutes."_ She said before pausing. _"But KL has a point. You've all done your part. It's time to head back."_ The team sighed in relief. _"There should be an access point around here somewhere."_

"Access point?" Junpei asked.

 _"Think of it as a... transporter, if you must."_ She explained. _"It will take you back to the main lobby."_

"You mean that thing?" The capped boy pointed at a strange looking device all the way at the end of the hall. His two teammate blinked.

"Well that was easy." DJ said before smiling. He and Junpei started walking down the hall, but Yukari stayed put.

"A bit _too_ easy..." She muttered as she stared at the access point. A feeling if dread built up in her stomach. "Something doesn't add up..." She kept staring until she saw something in the shadows... move. "Oh God... Guys! Wait!"

The two boys stopped and something immediately tackled Junpei to the ground. DJ jumped in shock as whatever was on top off the capped boy tried to bite and claw his face off. It was still pretty dark, so Junpei had a hard time telling what it was, but he could make out a set of very sharp teeth.

Junpei struggled to keep the monster away from him, using his sword as his only mean of defense. The creature kept biting and slashing it's claws randomly at him, but it barely managed to graze Junpei's skin. After what felt like forever, when it was really only about seven seconds, DJ came up and kicked the beast in the stomach, knocking it away before helping Junpei up.

"You okay?" He asked. Junpei looked a little shaken, but still nodded. "Good! Now we can- Ah!" DJ's speech turned into a cry of pain as a second beast appeared out of nowhere and bit his arm. Hard. DJ tried to kick it away, but it held its grip firmly. Junpei slashed at it with his sword, making it let go of the brunette and jump back to avoid getting hit again.

"DJ! Junpei!" Yukari yelled, running up to the two. As soon as she got there, she gasped. DJ's right arms was dripping a rather large amount of blood. DJ held onto his wound and glared at the two beasts.

The two were finally standing in the light, allowing the group to finally see what they were. They were two dog-like creatures that stood on all fours. Their fur was pitch black, but stained with blood red splotches all over. Their tails were long and had sharp arrow-like points at the end of them. Their teeth and claws were sharp, with one in particular having a noticeable red hue on his teeth. One of them had a scar on it's face, going down the side of his right eye. But what seemed the most terrifying were their eyes.

Completely blood red. No white, no pupils, just red.

"M-Mitsuru-senpai?" Yukari asked. "What are those?"

 _"I... I don't know."_ The three stopped, horror freezing on their faces. _"I can't analyze them! I can't find weaknesses, a name, nothing!"_

"Grr... They're blocking our exit." DJ growled. Surely enough, the beasts stood in front of the access point like a pair of guard dogs, glaring at them. "We have no choice but to fight! Gah!" He clutched his arm a bit tighter, making Yukari frown.

"Junpei, distract those mutts." Yukari ordered, making everyone look at her in confusion.

"What?" The capped boy asked. "What are you talking about Yuka-tan? We all need to fight!"

"...I'm going to help DJ." She said, taking out her Evoker. "I think I have something to help him... Just... see if you can buy me some time, please?" Junpei stared at the Evoker in her hands for a moment before smirking.

"Okay then! I'll handle these guys!" He turned around and took out his Evoker. "Here I go! Hermes!"

DJ barely paid any attention to his battle cries as he clutched his arm. He gave Yukari a small glare, almost saying "What the hell are you doing?!" Yukari sighed and put the Evoker on her head, stopping DJ's glare.

"...Io."

DJ blinked as Yukari pressed the trigger, her Persona rising in the air behind her. A dark skinned girl in a pink dress chained to a massive horned animal's head. Her golden hair flew freely as she floated above the two. Now to any normal person, this would probably be terrifying, horrific even... But to DJ, only one word could describe it.

"Beautiful..." He muttered. He wasn't sure, but he could've sworn he saw the Persona smile at him. Yukari blushed at the praise, but quickly brushed it off.

"Please... Help him..." She whispered, putting a hand on the boy's wound. He winced at the touch, but he let her anyway. In her mind, a single incantation mirrored what she wanted. "Dia." Blue sphere emerged from Io as she closed her eyes. The spheres found their way to the wound on DJ's arm, making him wince until he felt his arms again. The wound was closing.

"Woah..." He muttered, touching the now closed wound. There was still blood on his arm, but other than that, he was good as new. He looked Yukari, who was smiling at him. "You did it..."

"I owed you one." She said simply, earning a smile from the boy.

"I'd hate to ruin the mood, but can I get a little help here!" Junpei's yelling snapped them back into reality. Junpei was fighting one of the the dogs, while the other still stood at its post, watching the battle with its fierce eyes. The capped boy backed up as the dog it was facing lunged at him, nearly missing its target.

"Let's help him!" DJ said running up towards Junpei. The dog noticed him coming and barked, calling the other dog to his side. "So it's three against two... Senpai, you still there?"

...

"Uh~... Senpai?"

 _"Wha- Oh! Forgive me KL."_ Mitsuru's voice said, easing his worries. _"I was tying to analyze these creatures again."_

"And?" Yukari asked her, hoping to get some kind of lead.

 _"I'm afraid I didn't discover much. All that I learned is the the one with the scar is named Deadeye."_ The dog in question barked in response. _"The other is named Blackout."_ Blackout howled in approval.

"They have names?!" Junpei asked, looking back at the mutts. "And they heard what you just said?!"

 _"They have to be able to hear me if they can stop me from analyzing them fully..."_ Mitsuru grimaced. Theses things were _not_ normal. _"What's more is that they aren't even Shadows."_

"What?" The three asked simultaneously _._

 _"It's strange... They're not normal dogs, but they aren't Shadows either. Either way, they wont let you leave without fighting them."_

"..." DJ put a hand on his chin. This was not good. These things were tougher than they looked, and they didn't even have a good idea what they're weaknesses were. They needed to think fast... Deadeye was starting to look jumpy.

"Okay, so what are we gonna do Leader?" Junpei asked, eyeing the two dogs.

"...Yukari, what spells can you use?"

"Um~..." She turned to her PSR. "Dia and Garu... A wind spell." DJ clicked his tongue. Fire and wind was not a very good combination. "Man, this bites... How are we gonna-"

Unfortunately, Deadeye got tired of waiting and pounced on Junpei. The two rolled around on the floor, the dog trying to land any kind of hit on Junpei. Junpei managed to hold his ground, but you could easily tell he was struggling. Getting fed up with their little game, Junpei kicked Deadeye off of him. The beast rolled over and glared at the boy before pouncing towards him again.

"Yukari! Go help Junpei!" DJ ordered her. Yukari nodded and ran over to the fight, leaving the disk jockey alone with Blackout. "Okay big guy..." He tapped his foot. Blackout stood in position, growling at him. "Let's dance."

Blackout was surprised when DJ ran towards him. Having little time to react, Blackout whined in pain as DJ landed a heavy kick in his gut, sending him back. The boy took out his Evoker and readied himself.

"Agi!" He yelled. Orpheus played a melody on his lyre and a small explosion engulfed the dog. DJ smirked at his handiwork, but the smile faded when he saw Blackout completely unscathed. "A~nd he's immune to fire... _Joy_." He had to react fast when Blackout ran towards him. He barreled out of the way, but the dog managed to trip him by biting his pants.

DJ fell to the ground and Blackout immediately tried to bite him, but the boy held its front paws as it tried to sink its teeth into his head. The dog tried squirming out of his grip, but no avail. DJ took advantage of his current situation and rammed his knee into the dog's gut. It gasped for air before DJ tossed the mutt away.

"Orpheus! Bash!" With another press of the trigger, Orpheus flew towards the dog before it could find its bearing and brought his lyre down on it. The dog whined in pain as Orpheus disappeared, but it still managed to stand up again. He growled at DJ, who smirked at it's enraged expression. Not so tough, are you ya little vampire!" He spat, referring to the blood on its teeth. "That bite really hurt ya know!"

For a moment Blackout stayed silent, closing its eyes and bowing its head down. Suddenly, its eyes shot open, glowing brighter than ever. It howled in the air as DJ felt the air around him get hotter and-

"Oh crap!" He yelled before jumping away, barely dodging the explosion of flames that engulfed where he was standing. "Senpai! These things can use spells?!"

 _"Of course they can."_ Mitsuru said bluntly. _"Shadows are fully capable of using spells. The ones you've faced until now simply didn't have any at their disposal. These..._ _ **Hounds**_ _, as I've called them, appear to have very similar abilities to Shadows, including their spells."_

" _Great_..." DJ jumped out of the blast of another Agi before summoning Orpheus again. "Bash!" Orpheus charged at Blackout, but the dog ducked under the lyre and surprised DJ by running into his stomach. DJ gasped for breath before yelling in pain as the Hound clawed at his chest, ripping a hole in his shirt. DJ snapped out of his stupor and kicked the Hound in the jaw before jumping back. He winced as he felt the stinging pain in his chest. The cuts weren't deep or anything, but they were still enough to draw some blood.

"Dammit..." He cursed. This was getting him nowhere. This thing was stronger than it looked. DJ growled until he noticed something. Blackout didn't look very hot either. They were both pretty tired, so DJ just had to finish this off quickly!

But how? His only effective spell was Bash, seeing as Blackout was immune to Agi skills... How was he supposed to-

 _"You have the ability to possess multiple Personas, and summon them when needed. That ability is known as the_ _ **Wild Card**_ _."_

...That's right.

He had the Wild Card. He had started a journey. He wasn't going to let some overgrown mutt get in his way. Blackout growled at him and started circling around him, but DJ wasn't paying attention. He couLd beat him. He could use other Personas... But how?

As he thought, the world around him suddenly became blue, much like the blue from the Velvet Room. This time however, instead of a bald man sitting in a chair, a lone card appeared in front of him.

 _"Hee Ho! Hi there!"_ The card said in a rather jolly and childish voice. _"I couldn't help but notice you're in a bit of a pickle."_

"Who... Who are you?" He asked, staring at the card.

 _"Oh, you know who I am! I'm you! You know? "Thou art I" and all that junk."_ The card said again, descending. _"I can help you out here, if you'll let me of course. These guys are pretty weak to wind, but they're even weaker to ice."_

"Ice... Are you a Persona? You can talk?"

 _"We can all talk! You just need to listen to our voices!"_ He said, only confusing DJ even more. _"Now do you want my help or not?"_ DJ thought for a second and nodded. _"Okay than! Thanks for accepting me into your heart!"_

And with that the card vanished in a bright light and all the blue disappeared.

 _"KL? KL?! Focus!"_ Mitsuru's voice was the first that came to mind when DJ nearly found himself trampled by Blackout. He just barely managed to dodge the attack and the Hound was not looking to happy about it. _"Stay focused KL! You cant space out like that."_ DJ blinked, a sudden raise of adrenaline pumped into his body.

"...Hee Ho." He whispered, grabbing his Evoker and pointing it at his head. All while a single name went through his head.

"Jack Frost."

* * *

Yukari was not liking their chances right now.

After getting sent by DJ to help junpei, the two pretty much found themselves at a stalemate with the Hound. Deadeye was a relentless attacker. He'd attack wildly and with out pattern, making him pretty much unpredictable.

Unfortunately, so was Junpei.

Both of them attacked with the same ferocity as the other, trading hits and blows from all sides. Yukari could barely do anything but heal or she could end up shooting Junpei instead.

The capped boy, fed up with his current situation, pushed the dog away and summoned Hermes, casting an Agi where the mutt was. To his surprise, Deadeye came running through the fire, completely unscathed and looking angrier. Junpei blocked it's slash with his sword until Yukari managed to shoot it with an arrow, bringing its attention to her.

Yukari squeaked as the dog charged at her, bit Hermes appeared and rammed straight through it, knocking it back into the wall. Yukari mouthed a thank you at Junpei before turning to shoot more arrows at Deadeye, who took each hit while still getting up. The Hound glared at the two, quickly switching between them as it glanced around. Its eyes lit up, signaling that it was about to bring the heat.

Sensing the raise in temperature, the two jumped away, Junpei heading straight for it and Yukari placing her Evoker on her head.

"Please work... Io!" She shouted as her Persona manifested. "Junpei, get out of there!" The capped boy stopped mid-charge before he saw Io summon a torrent of wind around her. Immediately understanding, Junpei backed up as far as he could, confusing his four-legged sparring partner. "Garu!" Deadeye blinked before yelping, no longer feeling the ground under its feet. The wind hitting him was so strong it literally swiped him off his feet. He growled until he felt the wind slice at his skin, making him whimper. With a final gust of wind, the dog was sent back into the wall, hitting it hard. It whined as it tried to stand but Hermes appeared and slashed through it.

It let out a loud howl as it dropped to its knees. It looked at its two offenders one last time before its head dropped, unconscious.

The two panted, staring at the Hound in disbelief before smiling.

"We did it!" Junpei cheered, raising his hand in the air. Yukari nodded and stared at the Hound. They _had_ done it. Just wait until DJ-

!

"Oh no, DJ!" She yelled, spooking Junpei. As soon as her words registered in his brain however, he paled. "We left him alone with one of these!"

"Oh crap... Hang on dude!" Junpei yelled before the two ran back towards where he was. They heard Mitsuru call his attention, which only worried them even more.

Arriving there, they both saw DJ raise his Evoker to his head, not moving. Yukari and Junpei immediately reach for their-

 _"Wait!"_ Mitsuru ordered, much to their confusion. _"I want to see this..."_

"...Hee Ho." DJ whispered, grabbing his Evoker and pointing it at his head. He spoke two little words, just loud enough for them to hear.

"Jack Frost."

* * *

Cold.

That's the one thing everyone felt as soon as DJ pulled the trigger. A torrent of blue energy spiraled out of DJ's body as his Persona manifested itself above him. His large round torso, his short limbs, his pointy hat and his great big smile...

Wait, what?

 _"Hee Ho!"_ The new Persona greeted as he appeared in front of DJ. _"Jack Frost, ready for action sir!"_ DJ smirked as the snowman gave him a thumbs up. Sensing the change of temperature, Blackout took a step back. It really did not like the cold.

Far away from them, Junpei and Yukari stared at the new Persona, their mouths agape.

"He has two Personas?!" Junpei asked. He could easily feel two emotions build up inside him. Astonishment... and jealousy.

"Wow..." Yukari said as the cold air around Jack hit her. How did he pull off something like this? A second Persona?! A small smile tugged at her lips. "You really are something different, aren't you?"

 _"That's... That's not possible."_ Mitsuru muttered as she watched through her Persona's vision. She ignored Akihiko questioning what was wrong as she stared at the new Persona. _"Just... what are you KL?"_

"Jack!" DJ yelled, getting the snowman's attention. "Bufu!"

 _"Hee Ho Boss!"_ Jack said before holding his arms out. Blackout felt the temperature go down. A lot. Its face contorted with fear, looking for some way to escape. Unfortunately, it found none. _"It's ice time!"_ A large flurry of ice flew from Jack's body to the Hound. At first, it seemed as if nothing happened. That is until the Hounds paws suddenly froze themselves into the ground. The Hound howled in pain as the ice climbed up his legs, reaching its torso and still continuing. Blackout glared at DJ one last time until the ice finally reached it's head, turning it into a statue.

DJ sighed in relief before smiling up at his new Persona. "Thanks Jack."

 _"Anytime Boss!"_ The Persona said, saluting. _"If you ever need me again, just give a call! Hee Ho!"_ And with that, Jack Frost vanished in a ray of light, back into DJ's sea of souls.

DJ smiled as he felt a new warmth inside of him... Or should he say something cold? Either way, he could feel Jack Frost inside of him. And in a very good way.

"Good. Now to help-" He stopped when he saw Junpei and Yukari staring at him with flabbergasted expressions. "Oh. You're done. How's it going guys?"

Silence.

"..."

"..."

"..."

 _"...KL."_ Mitsuru's voice said, making everyone in the room freeze. The room temperature dropped, and not in the way it did when Jack was here... and she wasn't even in the room! _"We need to talk."_

* * *

"So what you're saying is that during your fight with that Hound, you heard a voice inside of a card telling you that it would help you and that this voice somehow manifested itself as that new Persona you used today. Is that about right?"

"...Sadly, yes." Everyone looked at the DJ with a blank expression. After tonight's adventure, SEES had made its way back to the dorm for a well deserved rest, but not without questioning their resident disk jockey about his new Persona.

"Dude, that's totally bogus." Junpei said, scratching the back of his neck. "Do you really expect us to believe that?"

"No, but I don't have any other explanation to give you." He responded. "It just... happened, okay. It was pure instinct. I don't know what happened to me, okay..." Mitsuru stared at him and sighed.

"...It wouldn't be the first time it happened..." She muttered. Yukari grabbed the hem of her skirt, remembering the rather... terrifying creature that came out of Orpheus on the night of DJ's awakening. "But possessing multiple Personas is just so... unheard of."

DJ winced. More lies to add up to the guilt trail. He couldn't exactly tell them about the Velvet Room without him looking like a complete looney. Besides, Mitsuru was keeping _her_ secrets about the Dark Hour, so it was okay for him to keep a few too...

"So~... Can I go to bed now?" He asked, a sheepish smile creeping up on his face. Mitsuru looked at him and sighed. She got up and dusted her skirt.

"I suppose some rest will do us good." She said. "I'll have to discuss your ability with the Chairman later though." DJ frowned. Looks like he didn't get out of this yet... Darn.

Junpei and Yukari yawned before getting up. They each said good night and went upstairs. Mitsuru and Akihiko followed soon after, leaving DJ alone. He sighed before getting up and walking towards the stairs.

Today felt like a mixture of a complete victory and a total disaster. They had managed it okay, but things still were a bit rocky. Junpei was obviously jealous of him, so he risked losing his friendship. He told Yukari a bit about his past, something he swore not to do and ended up piling even more lies on top of it. And finally, he couldn't explain how he could use more than one Persona.

This whole things bites!

He sighed as he walked up the stairs, hoping to get some rest. However, a second pair of footsteps ahead of him got his attention. He looked up only to see Yukari walking down the stairs.

"Yukari-san?" He asked. Noticing him, she stopped and immediately looked away.

"O-Oh... Hi DJ..." She whispered. It was a bit hard to tell because of the lighting, but DJ could've sworn he saw her blush. "Um..."

"What's wrong?" He asked, only making her blush harder. Was she sick or something?

"W-Well... I just wanted to thank you... For telling me about your family." Knife. "A-And I just wanted to say that... your ability to use more Personas is incredible... Even if you don't know much about it." Stabbity stab. "S-So..." She walked up to him.

And quickly pecked his cheek.

She turned around, her face even redder than before. DJ just stood there, not really sure how to respond to that.

"I-I'll... see you tomorrow." She said before running up the stairs. DJ just watched her climb up before touching his cheek.

"...What the hell was that about?" He asked, genuinely having no idea why she just did that.

* * *

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

"Get up Deadeye."

Deadeye whimpered as he felt something lightly poke at his side. The Hound shook its head and opened its eyes. The world around it looked blurry, like someone had just shone light in its eyes. He couldn't make out anything.

Well, other than his Master standing above him.

...

Oh crap.

Deadeye immediately stood up straight to his Master, earning a smile and a pat on the head.

"Hello Deadeye. Forgive my absence today, but I had _**things**_ to take care of with _**an old friend**_."

The dog barked in happiness.

"Yes, yes. I know. Now lets go find your... brother."

...

...

...

"Deadeye."

The dog tilted his head.

"Why is Blackout frozen solid?"

Deadeye's ears raised in realization before it titled its head in sadness. It whimpered.

"We had visitors?"

Deadeye barked.

"And you defended your home against them? Deadeye, I thought I told you, that's not how we treat our guests!"

The dog whimpered again and the Master snapped his fingers, unfreezing Blackout instantly. Deadeye perked up and rushed over to his brother. They both barked in happiness before their Master's cough got their attention.

"So what happened?"

The two barked.

"One at a time."

Deadeye barked and then Blackout did.

"So a scrawny capped boy, a pink girl and an orange cyborg came in fighting the Shadows and you thought they were trying to take over our home, so you fought against them. Am I right?"

The dogs barked.

"...Out of curiosity, did they have Personas?"

The dogs nodded.

"Did one of them use more than one?"

Blackout nodded, earning a smile from the Master.

"I see..." He chuckled. "Well what are the odds..." He motioned his two pups to follow him, who happily obliged. "I look forward to meeting you in person, _**Wild Card**_."

* * *

 _ **SAVE GAME?  
YES -  
NO**_

 _ **SAVING...**_

 _ **SAVED.**_


	6. The Jouney: Part V

_**Persona 3 FES:  
"Advent of the Fool"**_

 _ **LOAD DATA  
1\. DATE: 4/21 (Tu) Kirijo Dorm  
PLV2 - DJKL**_

 _ **LOAD THIS GAME?  
YES -  
NO**_

 _ **LOADING...**_

 _ **LOADED.**_

* * *

 _ **4/21 (Tu) – EARLY MORNING  
FULL MOON IN: 18**_

* * *

This.

Was.

Hell.

All three members of last night's Tartarus exploration team let out a collective groan, earning stares from virtually everyone in the monorail. The three were… not looking so good, to say the least. Last night had worn them out more than they had expected. Needless to say, no one wanted to get up that day. Even the usually on time Yukari ended up waking up a bit later than usual. The boys had even considered staying home, but paused when they realized Mitsuru would have their hides if she found out they wanted to play hooky…

They all shuddered at the thought.

"I'm whipped…" Junpei muttered, leaning on the window. "Why the heck are we feeling so tired?"

"I think Mitsuru-senpai mentioned something about how it's easy to get fatigued during the Dark Hour or something." DJ said back, rubbing his eyes. "Either way, we technically did nearly spend an hour for our lives, something that we've never done before, so I'd say we have the right to be tired."

"Will you two be quiet? I have a splitting headache…" Yukari moaned, rubbing her temple. She looked out the window and sighed. "We're just going to have to get used to it…"

"Yeah, I guess…" Junpei said, looking outside as well. "Looks like things are gonna be this way for a while, huh?" DJ said nothing as he straightened his jacket.

"…I don't mind really." He said, making the other two snap back at him. "Especially if I'm gonna be fighting alongside you guys. I'm actually looking forward to this whole thing." The two blinked.

"…You're a weirdo, ya know that?" Junpei asked, smiling a little. "But you got a point. Like I said when I got to the dorm, it could get pretty lonely by yourself. We all make the trip a bit more bearable for each other."

Yukari couldn't help but feel a small smile tug at her lips. "You two are hopeless…" She muttered, looking away from them. "We're lucky to have gotten out alive and you're both excited to go back in."

"Only if you come with us." The two said, making her smile grow. Her happiness felt contagious as soon, all three of them were smiling like idiots. DJ chuckled.

"This is so weird, it's nice." He said, earning a nod from everyone. His expression fell a bit. "Still… I just hope we manage to find out what the deal behind the Dark Hour is. That is why we're gonna keep going into that deathtrap, right?"

"Ugh~… Don't remind me…" Yukari muttered, looking away. "We'll find out somehow. But for now, let's just focus on what's important in there."

"Survive." They said in unison. DJ rolled his eyes and sighed before a smile formed on his face. These two… Man, he didn't even know where to begin.

"We'll make it." He said.

"Hell yeah, we will!" Junpei said with a smirk. "Heck, I bet we'd even be able to figure it all out by the end of the month!"

"Let's not get too cocky boys." Yukari said, ´putting her hand between the two. "We still got plenty left to explore. We can't get too in over our heads yet. _Right_ Junpei?" She finished with a… very bright smile at the capped boy. One that made him shiver. "We wouldn't want you running off like last night again…" DJ laughed as Junpei started looking for someway to say he was sorry to her, though the pink clad girl generally ignored him. Thankfully, most people in the monorail were busy with their own things, so the entire conversation practically went unnoticed… He made a mental note, be _very_ careful where they talk about the Dark Hour.

"Hehe… This is gonna be quite the year…" He muttered, closing his eyes for a brief moment of sleep…

 _ **KA-SHH!**_

Well that woke him up with a jump. He blinked as the world around him slowed down, until eventually reaching a complete stop.

"This again?" He said out loud. Not like anyone could hear him anyway.

" _ **Thou art I… And I am thou…"**_

The disk jockey watched as the same card from before descended in front of him.

" _ **Thou shalt have our blessing when thou chooseth to create a Persona of the Fool Arcana…"**_

The card disappeared from his sight in a bright flash of light. In an instant, the world around him was full of life again. The students chatting, Yukari berating Junpei (He had to feel a bit sorry for him there. Mitsuru had already given him quite an earful on their way back to the dorm last night.), that cute looking teal-haired girl reading a book…

Wait, what?

DJ rubbed his eyes, thinking that his fatigue was making him delusional. A second look at the girl made him think otherwise however… How the hell did he miss seeing such a beautiful woman? She wasn't a complete hottie like Mitsuru, nor did she have that kind of... _charm_ Yukari did… But by just looking at her, DJ could only find one way to describe her.

"Such a cute girl…" He whispered, watching as the girl sighed sadly. She closed her book for a moment, looking slightly downcast. Was she okay? She looked kind of sad now that he thought about it. She looked pretty pale too. The girl shook her head, before quickly catching DJ's gaze…

He winked.

The girl's face turned red faster than a speeding bullet train… Or monorail in their case. Without a moment of hesitation, the girl opened her book again and buried her face in it, making DJ chuckle.

So she was one of the shy ones, eh? No wonder he hadn't seen her around before. Either that or she was in a different class, which, now that he thought about it, actually made sense. If he only he knew her name...

He shook his head. No point in worrying about it now. He'd look for her later, than he'd talk to her. For now, he went back to talking to Junpei, Yukari and Kenji, a boy he met a while back who had apparently showed up while he was looking at the teal haired girl.

He wasn't a bad guy. In fact, he seemed pretty cool. Though there something about him wanting a girlfriend with more... _experience_ that seemed awkward, even for a guy like DJ. Older women sure were great to look at, but to actually go out with one... Meh. Not his cup of tea. But to each his own.

It's not like some gorgeous older woman would ever feel attracted to him anyway.

* * *

 _ **4/21 (Tu) – LUNCHTIME**_

* * *

If there was one thing DJ had learned rather quickly about his school, it was that lunchtime... was Hell.

Gekkoukan's lunches were known for being a good meal and for it's _affordable_ prices. And by that, I mean they were delicious and _cheap_. Every day, the entire student body would assault the cafeteria hopes of obtaining Gekkoukan's prized lunches.

And speaking from experience, DJ knew this was not an easy task. You're most likely to get trampled by a mob of rabid students before you even got close enough to buy one.

So DJ just decided to eat a bento he bought at the grocery store near the dorm before they left. Getting mauled by a pack of rabid students was not worth the lunches.

"A~nd the monkey race is on." DJ said as he, Junpei and Kenji watched the students kill each other for w. This had become a bit of routine for them. It was pretty hilarious to see the outcomes of who managed to make it and who didn't. "Any bets?"

"Twenty bucks on the dude with the mohawk." Junpei muttered, sipping a soda.

"Twenty five on the red head girl." Kenji said. The disk jockey raised an eyebrow at the odd choices, but said nothing, being more focused on finishing his own lunch.

"Honestly, if they know it's such a hassle, why don't they just bring their own lunch?" DJ wondered out loud, though his two companions ignored him. "And the fact that we actually enjoy seeing them kill each other over this proves we're horrible people."

"We can worry about saving our souls later! Right now we- Yes! Mohawk boy did it! Pay up Kenji!" DJ laughed as Kenji fished through his pocket for his wallet, albeit begrudgingly. DJ figured it would be nice to make a few bets of his own, so he started scanning the crowd for a few decent candidates.

There were plenty to choose from, really. There was still that girl Kenji had bet on earlier, there was this blonde kid, heck, he was even sure he saw a few teachers in the mix. What they were doing buying a school lunch was beyond him. Maybe even the teacher's lunch the paled in comparison. Then there was that teal haired girl from this morning...

Wait, what?!

"Za?" He whispered. He couldn't believe it. It really was the same girl. She tried to squeeze her way through the massive crowd of people, albeit very unsuccessfully as she was always pushed back outside the group. Kenji and Junpei seemed to notice DJ's gaze on her and smirked at him.

"Oh~! Checking her out, huh DJ?" Junpei joked, taking a bit out of his lunch. "I wouldn't let Yukari find out if I were you!" DJ raised an eyebrow. What did Yukari have to do with anything? He shook his head and kept staring at the girl.

"Who is she?" He asked. Kenji scratched the back of his head.

"No clue. I've seen her around, but I don't think I've seen her in class." He muttered. He paused before letting out a low hum. "Come to think of it, I'm not even sure she's _in_ our class."

"No way dude." Junpei said, also checking the girl out. "I would've noticed a girl like her in our class." Kenji rolled his eyes and went back to his lunch, muttering something about how the girl was "too cutesy" for his tastes.

Pretty soon, the three started talking again, although DJ would occasionally sneak a glance at the tealette. To his surprise, she actually managed to buy her lunch... Or at least he assumed it was just her lunch, but the surprising amount of food she bought made him raise an eyebrow. Either she had a high metabolism, or she was buying for an entire party.

Either way, she left in a hurry and lunch was over pretty soon, much to the boy's displeasure.

* * *

 _ **4/21 (Tu) – EVENING**_

* * *

"Okay, am I the only one who thinks Officer Kurosawa seems like a male version of Mitsuru-senpai?" Junpei deadpanned. He and DJ had just gotten back from the police station after Akihiko had brought the their to meet their weapon supplier, Officer Kurosawa.

Needless to say, that man terrified them both.

Now, DJ really didn't need the money to buy weapons from him, since his weapon was already with him nearly 24/7, but Akihiko thought it would be a good idea to introduce him in case something ever went wrong and he needed to contact someone. While DJ had a hard time arguing with that logic, he really didn't think it was all that necessary, but you never know.

"I second that completely..." DJ muttered. "Why are there so many people in Iwatodai that seem so scary?"

"So many?" Junpei asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Well there's Mitsuru-senpai, Yu-chan when she gets angry, Ms. Toriumi, and now Officer Kurosawa." He paused. "And considering the fact that Kurosawa is the only man in the mix, I'd say he's just being impersonated by one of the girls." Junpei rolled his eyes and punched DJ's shoulder.

Things became silent shortly after.

"...Hey DJ?" Junpei started. The disk jockey looked up at him. "When do you think we should go to Tartarus again?" DJ blinked and looked away, biting his lip.

"...I don't know." He said. "We're completely exhausted after just one day. And we just barely came back alive."

"Next week maybe?" Junpei asked. The disk jockey raised an eyebrow.

"Why do you want to got to Tartarus so badly?" He asked. Now it was Junpei's turn to look away.

"...I just wanted to know when." He muttered before getting up. "Well, I'm gonna go play my PSP. You know? The _good_ gaming console." DJ rolled his eyes and stood up. "What? Ya got nothing to say?"

"Your fly's undone."

Junpei blinked. He looked down and-

"Oh come on!"

* * *

 _ **4/22 (Wed) – LUNCHTIME  
FULL MOON IN: 17**_

* * *

"So DJ, have you decided what club you're gonna join?"

"Za?" DJ looked up from his lunch and stared at Yukari, who had innocently asked him the question. "What do you mean?"

"I was just wondering whether you'll join a club or not." She said, pouting slightly. "Athletic Clubs are gonna start accepting new members tomorrow, so I was just curious... Then again... You do seem like the kind of guy who'd rather stay home, like a certain _Stupei_ over here..."

"Hey!" The capped boy in question shouted, allowing Kenji to grab a part of his lunch. "Hey!"

"Sorry dude! You snooze, you lose!" Kenji finished with a smile before swallowing. He let out a satisfied sigh before turning to the disk jockey. "But Yukari-san has a point. You thinking about joining any clubs?"

DJ blinked before absentmindedly sticking his chopsticks in his mouth. "Hm... Hard to say really. Nothing really comes to mind... What do you guys think I should join?"

"Kendo maybe?" Junpei asked, earning a flat look from Yukari and DJ. "What?"

"Junpei, how do expect me to do _Kendo_ " The disk jockey pointed at his leg. "With a leg like _this_?"

"Oh... Oh!" He chuckled nervously, scratching his cheek. "S-Sorry... I kinda forgot about that..." Rolling his eyes, DJ went back to his lunch...

"Huh? What do you mean by that DJ?"

DJ froze, holding a ball of rice in his chopsticks right in front if his mouth. He slowly turned to Kenji, who was staring at him oddly. Junpei and Yukari seemed a bit uneasy too. They looked between themselves before looking at DJ, who bit his lip in frustration. He sighed before reaching down to his right leg.

"I'm talking about this..." He said, lifting up his pants ever so slightly. Just enough to reveal his prosthetic.

The reaction was instantaneous.

"Holy crap- What happened to your leHMPH?!" Kenji's outburst was muffled by DJ, who put a hand over his mouth before he could finish. A few passerbys cast an awkward look at their table before resuming whatever they were doing. DJ let out a sigh of relief before glaring at Kenji.

"Sure, scream it to the whole world why don't ya?" He snapped before taking his hand of of Kenji's mouth. "I have a prosthetic leg. Is that so wrong?"

Kenji shook his head. "N-No, of course not!" He rubbed the back of his neck. His entire face was red with embarrassment. "I-I just... wasn't expecting it."

"Well now you know." DJ muttered said, fixing his pants. "Anyway, Kendo is a no go... Do we have a Soccer Club?"

"Nope."

"Dammit... Swimming?" He said, making everyone stare at him strangely.

"You can swim?" Junpei asked, eyebrows raised. "Don't you need both your legs for that?"

"Not really. I was in the Swimming Club at my old school last year. I'm not the best swimmer, but I'm still pretty good. Especially for a guy with only one leg and a half." Before anyone could say anything else, the bell had started ringing.

"Well, time to get to class." Yukari said, getting up.

"Aw man... We have Mr. Ekoda's class next..." Junpei muttered, dragging his feet along. DJ got up to follow him before feeling a hand on his shoulder.

"Hey uh... DJ?" Kenji started, looking at DJ worriedly. "Can I talk to you real quick?"

"What's wrong Kenji-kun?" DJ asked. Kenji bit his lip and scratched the back of his neck.

"Look I... Sorry if I was a bit insensitive about... You know." He started. He only earned an eye roll from DJ, who gave him a light smile.

"Hey, it's not a big deal Kenji-kun." He started. "How were you supposed to know about it?"

"Well yeah, but I still overreacted." He muttered, glancing at the disk jockey's leg. He shook his head before looking up at him. "That's why I'm gonna make it up to you!"

"You really don't have to-"

"Come on dude, let me do this!" He interrupted him. Kenji put on a bright smile on his face and gave DJ a thumbs up. "After school, I'll treat you to some ramen at Hagakure! What do you say?" DJ blinked before tilting his head.

"Hagakure? Where's that?" A loud gasp escaped Kenji's mouth as he stared at the disk jockey.

"You've never been to Hagakure?!" He nearly yelled, only earning a silent "No" from DJ. "Okay, I am _so_ taking you there. Trust me man, you won't regret it!"

"Do I get a say in this?"

"Nope!" The two shared a laugh and started heading towards their classroom. DJ smiled lightly as he glanced at his friend, happy to know he had a pal outside of his SEES team.

* * *

Sometimes he felt like he shouldn't even exist.

That was one of the many self-depraving thoughts that ran through his head as that unbearable pain shot through his skull. In all honesty, this was already routine for him. Everytime he felt _it_ get out of control, he had to take one of those _God damn_ pills and have it subsided.

And then he'd throw up.

Kinda like right now.

He groaned as he wiped the vomit on his chin, grimacing at the sight inside the trashcan he had used to empty out his stomach. One of the downsides of having to use the pills were their... multiple health hazards. Occasionally they would leave him feeling fatigued or tired. Other times, like now, it would end with him chucking up bile like how a hose would shoot out water. Today it felt more like both...

Albeit, there were... _other_ hazards when it came to using the suppressants...

Thank whatever God existed that Akihiko wasn't here.

How long had this been going on exactly? Two years, right? Two years since he let that _monster_ loose. Two years since he left SEES. Two years...

...since he started killing himself.

"Tch... To hell with this..." He muttered, stuffing the suppressants into his cloak pocket. He growled before storming off, ignoring any stares from the people around him.

* * *

 _ **4/22 (Wed) – AFTER SCHOOL**_

* * *

"So what's the deal between you and Yukari?" Kenji asked before slurping his ramen up. DJ, who was currently enjoying his own bowl, looked up at him in confusion.

"What do you mean?" He asks after slurping up a rather large amount of noodles at once. Man, this ramen was good. He had to thank Kenji for bringing him here later.

"Well I heard that you two were pretty close..." He muttered, playing around with his chopsticks."And I've noticed that she stares at you a lot during class, so... What's up? Are you two going steady or something?" He finished with a smile. DJ just blinked and shrugged before going back to his meal.

"She's a great friend, I'll tell you that much. But other than, nothing." DJ started, swallowing. "I mean, I wouldn't mind going out with her, but I really doubt she'd end up falling for a guy like me."

"Really?" Kenji asked, raising an eyebrow. A nod from the DJ made him shrug. "If you say so..." He didn't quite believe DJ's story yet. There was just no way of could just end like that.

"Man, this ramen is delicious!" DJ muttered, slurping up even more. Kenji laughed and went back to his bowl.

"Ha! I know, right? I think they use some kind of secret spice or something." Kenji swallowed before looking up at the disk jockey. "You know, you're a lot different than I thought you'd be." DJ stopped, a fork load of ramen in front of his mouth. "Don't give me that look! Just hear me out. I'm just saying, I didn't expect you to be such a cool guy."

"Gee. _Thanks_." DJ chuckled, earning him a punch the arm. "Okay okay, no sarcasm... Still, thanks Kenji." The disk jockey picked up his bowl and drank what was left of the soup from it. "Ah~ That hit the spot... 'Think we can come by here again?"

Kenji smirked. "Of course! Plus I can tell you all about my big plan!" DJ cocked in eyebrow in confusion. "Trust me dude, it's gonna be great!" The brunette chuckled as he watched his friend finish off his bowl.

Kenji was a pretty neat guy. Compared to the other guys DJ's met so far, Kenji was... normal. No Dark Hour, no Personas, no Shadows... Just a normal teenager, who happened to be befriending him. It was a bit of a relief on DJ's part for multiple reasons. It had been a while since he just sat down and chatted with a pal like this. It was a complete deviation from the hell he went through last night, and a welcome one.

Just a normal, everyday thing...

 _ **KA-SHH!**_

The disk jockey nearly fell out of his chair as the world around him went dark. Time slowed down again, 'til it reached a perfect halt. DJ blinked before watching a card, much like the one from before appeared in his vision.

The only difference this time was the image on it... Yeah, he had a hard time finding the words to describe it. Some kind of face with hands holding... a flower maybe? Plus instead of a zero, this card had a one.

 _ **"Thou hast forged a new bond. Thou shalt have our blessing when thou chooseth to create a Persona of the Magician Arcana."**_

" _Magician Arcana? That's new…"_ DJ thought as the card vanished from his sight. He glanced over at Kenji, who had not noticed his surprise and was still finishing his bowl. _"Igor said that my bonds with others make me stronger… Does that mean these things always show up whenever I establish a Social Link?"_ He shook his head. It made sense, but he figured he'd ask Igor about it the next time he saw him. Hopefully the Frankenstein reject would give him a better explanation on the subject.

* * *

 _ **4/23 (Th) – AFTER SCHOOL  
FULL MOON IN: 16**_

* * *

"Alright, listen up everyone." The coach started, gathering the entirety Swimming Club around him. The team had already started training until the coach just called them all up for an announcement.

And to their surprise, a guy in an orange jacket and was standing next to him.

"This here is… DJ." The coach said, somewhat unsure at the name he was given. DJ rolled his eyes at the reaction and continued to look around the club. There were a couple of guys he had recognized from his class and a few others he had seen around. However, the one that really called his attention was the person standing in the middle of the group. "As of today, he'll be joining the team."

DJ smiled a held out a peace sign. "What's up?" He asked playfully, earning a few Helloes from the team. He was going to say more when someone else crossed his field of vision. To be more precise, a young girl in a P.E. uniform. One that he recognized from the first day of school.

"Yuko! Come over here for a sec." The coach gestured for her to come over, which she obliged. "This is Yuko, the team manager. If you have anything to ask, she'll answer for you." The girl gave DJ a bright smile and held out her hand.

"Hello! I'm Yuko Nishiwaki. It's nice to meet you." She said. DJ grabbed her hand and shot her a toothy grin.

"Nice to meet you too Nishiwaki-san." He said before tilting his head. "Hey, have I seen you before?" The girl blinked before putting a finger on her cheek.

"Maybe. I think I've seen you around the school once or twice…" She shook her head and gave him another smile. "Anyway, you're a junior right? You can just call me Yuko, 'kay?"

"Fine by me. It's not every day a cute girl like you lets me call her by her first name from the get go." He smirked. Yuko blinked before a small blush appeared on her face. He could've sworn he saw the guy from before look a bit distraught before composing himself again. Yuko herself chuckled nervously and looked away. "Relax, it was just a joke. Anyway, you can just call me DJ." The girl froze for a moment and raised an eyebrow.

"Is that really your name?"

"It's what's written on the birth certificate." DJ joked, earning a light chuckle from the girl. The disk jockey couldn't help but laugh either. She seemed nice. Cute too, that was a plus. DJ was about to say something else when the boy from the center came up to him.

"Hey there!" The newcomer said, waving at him. "The name's Kazushi Miyamoto! How ya doin'?" He asked, earning a shrug from the brunette.

"I've had better days, but I'll live." DJ responded. Something about this guy reminded him about Junpei… "My name's DJ… Hey, I've seen in class before, haven't I?" Kazushi smirked and crossed his arms.

"Yep! You and I are in 2-F together!" His grin never faded as he pointed at himself. "I'm an old friend of Kenji's. He's told me a lot about you." DJ blinked before smiling.

"Oh really? Nothing bad, I presume?" Kazushi thought for a moment before shaking his head.

"Nothing that comes to mind. By the way, you can call me Kaz." He said as he fixed his swimming cap. "Hey, aren't you the guy that went out with Yukari Takeba on the first day?" DJ scratched the back of his head and chuckled.

"People still talking about that?"

"Dude, you're famous because of it." Kaz shook his head and crossed his arms. "Moving on, I'm the team captain. Long story short: From now on after school, your mine."

"Strong words from a man in a speedo."

"Laugh it up. You'll be wearing this thing in a few days." The two chuckled before Kaz's expression turned serious. "But don't think I'll go easy on you DJ-kun. Just because you joined mid-season doesn't mean you get any special treatment!"

"Wouldn't have it any other way!" DJ smirked. The two looked each other in the eye, each with their own determined expression. "By the way, it's just DJ. No honorific Kaz-kun."

"In that case, no honorific here either! Just Kaz will do."

"Geez…" Yuko muttered besides them. "You two just met and you're acting like lifetime rivals or something." Kaz and DJ looked at her and then back at each other, before breaking out into laughter.

This was going to be interesting.

 _ **KA-SHH!**_

"Son of a-!" DJ barely managed to keep himself from swearing as the loud glass crash rang through his ears again. Like before, the world turned dark and time went to a halt. A card appeared in front of him, this time bearing an image of a chariot, with the Roman numeral "VII" on it.

 _ **"Thou hast forged a new bond. Thou shalt have our blessing when thou chooseth to create a Persona of the Chariot Arcana."**_

"Chariot this time?" DJ asked himself as time went back to normal. He shook his head and focused his attention back on Kaz, who had went over to his team and started telling them to "treat the new guy well". Whatever that meant. The disk jockey sighed and crossed his arms.

Twice in two days… Okay he couldn't take this anymore. He needed to talk to Igor about this stuff. But the only way he could do that was…

DJ stepped back outside of the swimming pool and took out his cellphone, quickly dialing in a number. He waited until the other person had finally picked up before sighing in relief.

"Hello?" The familiar voice came from the phone.

"Junpei? Could you do me a favor?" DJ started, looking back into the swimming pool to see that the other member had started doing laps in the pool. "I need you to tell Yukari to start getting ready."

"Ready?" Junpei's confused voice came out, making DJ roll his eyes. "Ready for what? You guys going on a date or something?"

"Nope…" DJ smirked. "We're going to Tartarus."

* * *

 _ **SAVE GAME?  
YES -  
NO**_

 _ **SAVING...**_

 _ **SAVED.**_


	7. The Journey: Part VI

_**Persona 3 FES:  
"Advent of the Fool"**_

 _ **LOAD DATA  
1\. DATE: 4/23 (Th) Tartarus**_

 _ **PLV4 - DJKL**_

 _ **LOAD THIS GAME?  
YES -  
NO**_

 _ **LOADING...**_

 _ **LOADED.**_

* * *

 _ **4/23 (Th) - DARK HOUR  
FULL MOON IN: 16**_

* * *

 _ **TARTARUS  
THEBEL 2F**_

* * *

"Anyone else notice how we've barely seen any Shadows yet?"

The question was a rhetorical one, but it still needed to be said. DJ, Junpei and Yukari walked through the halls of Tartarus, glancing down the corridors to see if they could find any Shadow wandering the halls. Oddly enough, the only ones they had managed to find so far were a few Cowardly Mayas and a few Shadows named "Muttering Tiaras" and "Magic Hands".

But their numbers were nothing like from before.

"Didn't we clear them all out on this floor?" Junpei asked, clutching his sword tighter.

"But the floors change every night, plus this is the Shadow's _nest_ for God's sake." DJ rebutted, scratching his head. "There should be more Shadows than this..."

 _"This is rather worrying..."_ Mitsuru spoke as the group headed towards the flight of stairs to the next floor. _"Even if there are less Shadows, I still advise you all to be cautious. You never know what you might encounter on the next floor."_

The three nodded. They kept walking, although DJ looked a bit... thoughtful. Mainly because of a little talk he had with Igor a little while ago.

* * *

 _"Welcome to the Velvet Room."_

 _DJ blinked as the new reality around him emerged. The Velvet Room was still as blue as ever, with Igor staring at him with those huge eyes of his._

 _"'Sup Igor." He greeted with a wave before taking his seat. "Elizabeth, Theodore." The two attendants smiled and greeted him back. "Nice to see you came back from your little trip."_

 _Igor's smile grew and he let out a chuckle. "Why thank you young man. I don't usually leave the Velvet Room, but it was a matter that simply couldn't be stalled."_

 _"Don't sweat it." DJ shrugged it off before a serious look appeared in his eyes. "Look, I need to make this quick since time goes on normally right now. I need a few answers." Igor's grin turned into something that looked more like a smirk._

 _"Ask away... Wild Card."_

 _"...For the past few days" The disc jockey started. "I've been having these weird visions about cards floating in front of me, each one with a different Arcana."_

 _"Ah~, your Social Links." Igor mused, earning a nod from DJ. "These "visions" are a representation of the emotional bond you build with your friends. It should also help you keep track of your Social Links."_

 _"What do you mean?"_

 _"Social Links have ranks, depending on how deep the bond is. The max rank it can go is ten. If that happens, you'll have a bond that can never be broken."_

 _"...Okay, another question." He leaned forward. "Can something happen to my Social Links? Like something bad?" Igor smiled._

 _"Yes actually. A Social Link may reverse if your relationship is strained. And a reversed Social Link may even break. And a broken Social Link is impossible to restore."_

 _"Geez..." DJ frowned. "What about the Arcanas that show up with them?"_

 _"You've noticed how Shadows have their own Arcana to them, correct? Well Personas and humans are the same. The heart reflects what that person's Arcana shall be. In your case, it's the_ _ **Fool**_ _, represented by the bond you have with your team."_

 _"Makes sense... I can't have a Social Link with myself... But can I have Social Links with two people with the same Arcana?"_

 _"Hmm..." Igor put a hand on his chin. "It's difficult to say. There may be a few cases in which it's actually possible, but not always. Take your Magician Social Link for example."_

 _"...What does Kenji have to do with this?"_

 _"Your friend Junpei is also of the Magician Arcana, but you only have a Magician Social Link with Kenji."_

 _"...Okay, I guess..." DJ scratched the back of his neck. Social Links still confused him a bit, but he was on tight schedule here. "Okay, next up... Wait, what do you mean Personas have Arcanas too?"_

 _Igor smirked and waved his hand in front of the table, making a set of tarot cards appear. "I believe it's time I told you my true role here... It is my job to create new Personas."_

 _"...Za?" The DJ deadpanned, blinking._

 _"My assistants explained that you have the ability to summon multiple Personas. Last time you came here, you encountered three new Personas and you allowed them to enter your heart, like the white jester behind you."_

 _"Three? What do you mean? I only summoned-"_

 _!_

 _"...Behind me?" DJ muttered in confusion before looking over his shoulder..._

 _Only to nearly fall out of his chair when he saw a familiar white face smiling at him._

 _"Hiya boss!" Jack Frost greeted DJ, oblivious to his panting and terrified form. "Nice to so you again!"_

 _"What are you doing here?!" DJ yelled, earning a laugh from the snowman and the two velvet assistants._

 _"The same thing these guys are doing." The jester said, jabbing his thumb behind him. DJ looked over the snowman, only to see... A blue woman and girl with wings?_

 _And Orpheus too. He was just floating there, staring at DJ._

 _"What the heck is going on?!" DJ shouted, no longer managing to keep his balance and falling on the floor. Jack let out a laugh reminiscent of "Hee"s and "Ho"s before helping the boy back up._

 _"Your Personas have the ability to manifest themselves here." Igor explained. "Think of it as if you were going inside your own head."_

 _"B-B-But... They weren't here last time!" Igor chuckled before motioning him to sit._

 _"It's an ability that recently developed due to your gathering of new Personas. You see, while you fight, Personas will awaken within the sea of your soul, where you must then accept them into your heart."_

 _"But I only accepted Jack!"_

 _"Consciously yes." A woman's voice behind him made him jump. The blue skinned woman walked up to him. "You allowed Pixie and I into your hearts subconsciously, during your battle with the Shadows."_

 _"I can do that?" DJ asked, blinking._

 _"Yes. You can."_

 _"However," Igor snapped DJ's attention back to him. "You can only get so many Personas this way. That is where I come in." DJ watched as the set of cards from earlier floated into Igor's hand. "Each Persona has an Arcana. For Jack's case, it's the Magician Arcana, which your Social Link has already strengthened. However, to gain even more powerful Personas, you must_ _ **fuse**_ _them."_

 _"Huh?"_

 _"Increasing your Social Links will allow me to fuse Personas into completely new ones, and of different Arcanas. Depending on your Social Link's rank, the Persona may even be strengthened and come out even more powerful."_

 _"But... don't I have to give up my Personas for it?"_

 _"Yes. But do not be alarmed." Igor said, noticing DJ's worried look. "Fusing Personas does not mean they are gone forever. Many Personas... evolve, so to speak, and you can bring back Personas used in fusion with my assistants' Compendiums."_

 _"Really? That's great-"_

 _"For a fee of course."_

 _DJ swore he heard the sound of glass breaking. And it was not a Social Link._

 _"I beg your pardon?"_

 _"Ah, yes." Elizabeth said while giggling. "I believe the saying is "Nothing in this world is free", correct?"_

 _"I believe so, my sister." Theodore said with a playful smile._

 _"...You people want me to_ pay _you?" The residents of the Velvet Room nodded. "...Why in the sweet name of all that is good and holy do you people need money?!"_

 _"Personal reasons." Elizabeth said simply, playing with a lock of her hair. "We never know when it might come in handy..."_

 _"B-B-But... That makes no sense!" He whined. What would these people need money for?! Don't they live in a world between realities?! "You people are insane, you know that?!"_

 _"Perhaps..." Igor laughed. "But let's move on... Now I don't normally do this, but there is something I'd like you to have." DJ stopped his mini-rant to seeing Elizabeth walk towards him, carrying something in her hands. She tossed whatever it was to him and he caught it easily._

 _To his surprise, it was a PSR._

 _"A PSR?" DJ asked, looking at the device in his hands."How'd you guys get one of these?"_

 _"..." Elizabeth was silent. She turned away, whistling. DJ suddenly did not want to know how she got her hands on one of these._

 _"This version of the PSR is nearly identical to the one you have on now." Igor explained. "However, this one has been modified to give you the statistic of all your current Personas, not just Orpheus."_

 _"Wow." DJ said before removing his old PSR and putting on the new one. Ignoring the pain in his wrist when he turned it on, he stared at the new screen. Where Orpheus's stats once were was now a list with four names on it. "Hot damn... How many Personas can this thing display?"_

 _"The same amount that you carry within your soul." Igor explained, smirking. "One hundred and seventy."_

 _"..._ Hot _._ Damn _." DJ whispered as he let Igor's words sink in. A hundred and seventy Personas... He glanced back at his Personas. Jack had his ever present smile and was playing with his hat. The two newcomers, Apsaras and Pixie sat on the floor quietly, although Pixie gave DJ a small smile with a light blush on her cheeks._

 _As for Orpheus..._

 _The disc jockey stood up from his chair and walked over to the mechanical man. Orpheus was floating next to the door, watching him as he stopped in front of him. The Persona towered over DJ, who stared back with a somewhat stoic look on his face._

 _It felt like they had been staring at each other for hours._

 _"I take it you don't talk much?" DJ asked, a smirk forming on his face. Orpheus said nothing and continued to stare. "I vaguely recall you saying something on our first night together... Or was that just my imagination?" DJ frowned when he saw the Persona wouldn't answer him. "Alright... Have it your way." He looked back at Igor and clicked his tongue in annoyance. "I still got a few question, but I've been gone for too long. I'm gonna have to go now."_

 _Without even waiting for a farewell, DJ turned around and left, stepping out of the room._

* * *

 _ **TARTARUS  
THEBEL 3F**_

* * *

 _"This bites..."_ DJ thought as he looked down the hall, looking for any Shadow activity. _"If I stayed there too long, Mitsuru-senpai was bound to get suspicious... I got some info on Social Links, but I still have too many questions... Like who were those two guys I saw when I first summoned Orpheus and..."_ A slight pain surged through his skull when he recalled a large black beast with a metal jaw. _"...why hasn't that thing shown up again...?"_

"DJ! Look out!" Yukari's voice brought DJ out of his musings and just barely saved him from getting decapitated by a Muttering Tiara that had managed to sneak up on them. An arrow flew by his head before he noticed several Muttering Tiaras, Cowardly Mayas and Magic Hands surrounding them.

"Crap! When did these guys show up?" He muttered, backing up to regroup with his team.

"Like ten seconds ago!" Junpei yelled at him, holding his sword like a baseball bat. DJ really wished he'd find a more orthodox use for that thing... "Weren't you paying attention?!"

"Um... Za?" He said sheepishly, earning glares from his teammates. Even though he couldn't see her, he was sure Mitsuru was glaring at him too. "Okay, I zoned out. My fault. Sorry." His teammates responded with an angry sigh before they all turned to glare at the Shadows.

"So how are we gonna do this?" Yukari asked, looking at DJ expecting something. The leader bit his lip and glanced around.

"Well most of them are weak to fire, so I guess you and Junpei can handle the Magic Hands and Cowardly Mayas." He said, stopping his attention at a Muttering Tiara. "I'll get these little flying menaces for you two."

"Works for me!" Junpei smirked before jumping towards the Shadows, Evoker in hand. DJ only heard the sound of a gunshot before turning back to Yukari.

"Yukari, keep him out of trouble. If he gets hurt, don't hesitate to use that healing spell of yours." DJ smiled when the girl nodded. Without a second thought, Yukari turned around with her bow raised, swiftly taking out a Cowardly Maya that was about to lunge at Junpei.

DJ whistled as he watched her take off after the capped boy and then turned around to see what he got stuck with. Three Muttering Tiaras and-

He quickly ducked and smirked. A hand-like creature tried to get the jump on him and only ended up jumping _over_ him. Before it could get up, DJ slammed his foot into the monster, hearing it splat into black goo.

"Alright boys," He started, glaring at the other three Shadows. "we can do this the easy way or the hard way." The Muttering Tiaras hissed as their eyes glowed red. The disc jockey swiftly jumped to the side before he was caught in the fiery inferno. As odd as it sounded, he couldn't help but smirk as he lifted his Evoker up to his head. "Okay then... Jack Frost! Bufu!"

The Shadows scattered as soon as the snowman appeared. Unfortunately, one of them wasn't able to avoid the flurry Jack had shot out and it let out a violent hiss as it felt the ice claw away at its dark flesh. DJ didn't waste a single moment before running up and kicking the Shadow, smirking when he saw it dissolve into a pile of nothingness. He raised his head and saw the other two Shadows, charging at him. He dodged the first one's strike, but the second one ended up managing to scrape his left arm.

DJ hissed as he felt the wound sting, but was even more surprised when he felt the first Shadow grab onto his right arm, sinking its tendrils deep into his flesh. The boy's eyes widened as he felt the blood drip down his arm. He kicked the Shadow off of him, and while it _did_ separate the two, DJ ended up making his wound even worse.

"Shit..." He muttered, looking at his new wound and back at the Shadows. They circled around him, occasionally floating a bit higher then usual, as if trying to make themselves look bigger. However, DJ ignored them and looked over at Yukari.

As Junpei blocked an attack from one of the Magic Hands, Yukari stood not too far away from him, firing multiple arrows at the Shadows. A Cowardly Maya tried sneaking up on her, but it proved to be a vain attempt as she quickly turned on her heel and shot the Shadow in the mask, destroying it instantly. The girl gnashed her teeth in frustration as she readied her bow again. They were all doing pretty well, but there were still quite a lot of them.

"Hermes! Cleave!" Junpei ordered, his Persona obeying, tearing through a Muttering Tiara. So much for DJ handling them. They kept popping up out of nowhere. The capped boy jumped out of the way of a fire spell and slashed his sword at the caster, slicing it in half. He sighed in relief as he glanced around. There were just a few more to go.

DJ growled as he straightened himself up, pressing his Evoker onto his head. "Pixie!" He shouted, pulling the trigger. He noticed his team members look at him in shock before quickly going back to their fights, trying not to concentrate on the fact he summoned another new Persona. Speaking of the new Persona, Pixie looked down at her user with a worried look on her face. More specifically, she looked at the wound on his arm.

"The PSR says you know Dia, right?" He asked her, earning a nod. "Great! Dia!" The Persona nodded and closed her eyes. Blue spheres floated from her to DJ's wound, closing it in a few shirt moments. The disc jockey let out a sigh in relief until he felt a surge of pain in his arm. _"Crap... The wound closed but my arm is still sore... Guess Pixie's Dia isn't as great as Io's... I wonder if Apsaras' is any better?"_ Pixie disappeared and DJ turned his attention back to the two Shadows around him. One of them charged at him, clawed tendrils bared as it screeched. DJ prepared himself before seeing a blast of wind hit the Shadow, destroying it instantly.

Yukari sighed in relief as Io's presence left her. Thankfully, Muttering Tiaras were weak to wind attacks too. DJ gave her a grateful thumbs up before charging towards the last one, while she readied her bow and aimed at the last Shadow Junpei was dealing with.

DJ ran up to the Shadow and tried kicking it, but it ducked underneath the kick and tried to slice his leg off... Only to recoil in pain once it struck the metal limb. The boy smirked before kicking it away from him and raised his Evoker. "Jack! Bufu!" Jack emerged in a bright light and held his arms out, sending a flurry of ice at the Shadow. It let out a loud screech as it felt ice climb up its tendrils. "Orpheus! Bash!" The mechanical man appeared in front of the Shadow instantly before dropping his lyre onto the Shadow, destroying it.

The disc jockey sighed in relief. "All good on my part. You guys?" He asked, turning around to see Hermes slice through the Shadow Junpei was fighting. He sighed in relief and let his sword rest on his shoulder. DJ walked up to him and patted him on the shoulder. "I'll take that as a yes." Junpei chuckled as Yukari walked over to the two boys.

"So, do we keep going higher this time?" She asked, a worried look on her face. DJ put a hand on his chin and thought.

"I think we should." He started. "We won't get anywhere if we just keep climbing up to the third floor and going back. Thanks to the lack of Shadows-"

"Until, like, two seconds ago." Junpei interrupted him, earning a glare from the leader.

"...we managed to climb up a lot faster than last time. I'd bet we could at least climb up two more floors." DJ paused and bit his lip. "Any objections?"

"I'm game." Junpei said, scratching his cheek. "Besides, this sure beats sitting around doing nothing waiting for the Dark Hour to end." DJ and Yukari nodded in agreement. The Dark Hour was still young, so they had to take advantage of the time they had.

"Okay then gang, let's go."

* * *

...

...

...The _**Fool**_ was interesting.

Igor smiled as he watched DJ and his friends climb the staircase to the next floor, where a small amount of Shadows were already present, waiting for the group. The two velvet attendants stood beside him, watching the disc jockey intently as if he was some kind of Saturday morning cartoon.

Igor had to admit, his _**old friend**_ did a really great job clearing out the Shadows. Sure, a few still ended up spawning up here and there, but their numbers were still incredibly inferior to how they were before. Those two _**Hounds**_ of his must've had a blast tearing through those monsters for the past few nights.

He chuckled before snapping his fingers, the image in front of him disappearing from sight. Elizabeth and Theo let out rather loud childish groans before moving slightly away from Igor. The master of the Velvet Room rolled his eyes and waved his hand in front of the table, causing his old tarot deck to appear before him. It wouldn't hurt to give a quick glance into his newest guest's near... future...

That... That wasn't possible.

Igor could practically feel his eyes nearly bulging out of their sockets out of pure astonishment. Even his almost always present grin faltered as he saw what was in front of him...

And then his grin came back, even bigger than before.

He let out a snicker, which evolved into a chuckle, which eventually turned into full blown laughter. The attendants cast a confuse glance at him, but before they could see what made him laugh so hard he waved his hand again, making the cards disappear.

This universe was just full of surprises. I mean, he considered it possible, but he never imagined it would actually happen. And it wasn't just... It was...

"Hehehe... The more time I spend thinking about this _**Fool**_ , the more I realize just how insane this universe has become."

* * *

 _ **TARTARUS  
THEBEL 5F**_

* * *

"Io! Garu!" Yukari shouted, pressing the trigger on her Evoker. Her Persona rose into the air and fired a blast of wind at a Muttering Tiara, although it wasn't enough to kill it. Before it could react however, DJ kicked the Shadow towards Junpei, who brought his sword down, on it, finishing it off. The three panted before letting out a collective sigh in relief. "Man I'm tired…"

"Believe me when I say you're not the only one…" Junpei said, straightening himself. "Hey Mitsuru-senpai, you think we should go back?"

" _It would be for the best."_ She said, getting DJ's attention. _"While I must commend you all for making it this far, you're all too out of shape to go any further."_

The disc jockey clicked his tongue in annoyance, which did not go unnoticed by his team. "We'll never find out more about this place at this rate…" He muttered, crossing his arms. While the others were feeling tired, they had to agree with him. "If we have to climb all those floors every night, we'll be stuck in a rut…"

"… _I think there is a way around that."_ Mitsuru said, making all of them stop. _"The access point on this floor has been giving off some rather… peculiar readings. I'd like for you all to investigate."_

"...Sure." DJ muttered, tapping his foot on the ground. "We just need to find it now..." He glanced between his teammates. "...Let's split up." He said, earning a confused look from them. "We can cover more ground that way. Plus if anyone gets in trouble, we can just ask Mitsuru-senpai to call for help."

"Are you sure about this?" Yukari asked, looking worried. "What if we see... those Hounds again?" DJ grimaced. He had forgotten about those demonic little canines... Well, not the one that used his arm as a chew toy. That guy was still fresh in his memory. But now that he thought about it... They hadn't showed up at all tonight...

"Relax Yuka-tan!" Junpei said, rubbing his nose. "We've barely seen any Shadows on this floor. Even when we did, there were only like two of them. And after what we did to those mutts yesterday, I doubt we'll see them again." He chuckled, though there was something in his eyes that looked... bitter. "Besides, I can handle any Shadows that comes my way all on my own." DJ raised any eyebrow. Just who was he trying to impress, himself?

 _"Very well then_." Mitsuru's voice brought him out of his musing. _"I'll contact you all once someone finds the access point. Until then, be careful. All of you."_

"You heard the lady!" Junpei said, walking ahead. "I'll head this way! I'll see you guys at the access point!" He ran off down the hall before immediately stopping and turned on his heel. "Which I will find first, by the way." His teammates rolled their eyes while Mitsuru groaned.

"Well, he's gone..." DJ muttered as Junpei left his line of sight. He turned to Yukari, who was looking at him expectantly. "I think I'll head back a bit. Maybe we ended up missing it this time around..."

"Okay." Yukari said, clutching her bow. She walked towards a turn not too far away from them. "I'll head this way."

"'Kay... Stay safe Yu-Chan!" He yelled, nearly making her trip. He chuckled as she glared at him before turning around and walked.

"Fine... DJ-kun." Okay, now it was DJ's turn to nearly fall over. He looked up at Yukari with a confused look, a complete contrast to Yukari's smirk.

"I thought I told you not to use honorifics..." DJ whined. Yukari looked away, still smiling.

"You didn't listen to me when I told you to stop calling me Yu-chan, so I figured I'd return the favor." She explained. DJ blinked.

 _"Oh, so that's how you wanna play, huh?"_ He thought, shooting her a glare. An idea popped in his head, making him smirk. "Okay." Yukari's smirk fell.

"Huh?"

"I said okay." DJ said, smirk refusing to leave his face. "As long as it's you, I really don't mind." Yukari blinked before her face turned scarlet. "Let's be honest here, you walked right into that one."

"I-I... You idiot!" She screamed before turning on her heel and storming off. You could practically see the steam coming out of her head. DJ chuckled. She was always so easy to rile up.

 _"...Was that really necessary?"_ Mitsuru asked, startling him.

"Huh. I forgot you were still there Senpai." He admitted, starting to walk in his appointed direction. "Kinda? I was just messing around with her. It helps build team morale." Even though he couldn't see her, he could imagine Mitsuru giving him a skeptical look. "Okay, no excuses, that wasn't necessary. But in my defense... Yeah, I got nothing."

Mitsuru sighed before telling DJ she would check in with the others. He quickly said goodbye before continuing his solitary path down Hell.

 _"I wonder if this is how those Greek heroes felt in those stories..."_ He thought, looking around. He read plenty of those Greek mythology stories when he was younger. It was the only interesting part of all his history lessons back when he was still home schooled... Man, how long was that again? Until a few years after his parents...

He stopped once he felt a surge of pain go through his skull. He clutched his head with one hand and grimaced.

"Calm down..." He whispered to himself, eyes shut tight in an attempt to prevent the memories from coming back. "It's all in your head... It's all in your head..." He sighed in relief as the pain went away. He opened his eyes and stared blankly at his palm. "...I can't let it get to me now. I still got a whole year to get as far away from the memory as possible." He smiled and took a few steps. "After all, what could possibly go wrong?"

Let it be known, Murphy's Law is a bitch.

He barely had time to react when something lunged at him from the shadows, taking him by the front and knocking him onto his back. He winced as whatever it was climbed onto him, pinning him down and roaring into his face... It really needed a breath mint. DJ squinted his eyes and looked at the creature... Only to be met with a rather familiar pair of blood red eyes.

Blackout did not look happy to see him again.

"You again?!" DJ roared as the Hound growled at him. Already fed up with their position, DJ lifted his foot and kicked Blackout in the stomach... Only to be surprised when he saw he didn't even flinch. He tried kicking him again, but Blackout still stayed in place. He felt heavier than before, and now DJ couldn't even make him budge! "What the hell?!"

"Blackout!" A voice coming from ahead of DJ made Blackout fall silent. DJ was visibly confused as he tried to look over the Hound towards the speaker, but Blackout's large frame prevented him from doing so. "Off! Now! We have his attention." The Hound growled, looking between DJ and the hidden speaker before finally stepping off of the disc jockey. DJ immediately jumped onto his feet and as far away from the Hound as possible.

But the sight before him _really_ confused him.

Blackout calmly walked to a tall figure's side, Deadeye standing on the opposite side. The figure in question was very tall, taller than Akihiko even. DJ couldn't make out all the details, but he could see a suit and a long black cape fluttering behind him. He could see various pieces of gold adorning his suit, along with an emblem on his chest reminiscent of... an ax? Weird. The one thing DJ couldn't see very well was his face, being shrouded by shadows, but he could make out the short purplish hair...

He reminded DJ of a vampire... Oh shit, was he a vampire?! DJ already knew Shadows existed, vampires weren't far off the scale! And he wasn't even prepared for something like this! Maybe he could find some wood and use it as a makeshift cross!

Time seemed to stop for a moment as DJ stared at the newcomer, who smirked at his bewildered expression.

"...Hello there young man." He said, making DJ jump. Man, talk about gentlemanly. His voice sounded like someone from those old medieval films... and it had lots of baritone too. He had to give him points for that. "I have been expecting you... It's a pleasure to finally make your acquaintance."

"...Who are you?" DJ asked cautiously, taking a step back. The man chuckled before opening his arms wide, like a father offering a hug to his son.

"Oh goodness me. Where are my manners?" The man but a hand on his chest and bowed. "I am one of the residents of this tower. My name is _**Hades**_."

"...What?" DJ spat, a feeling dread building up in his stomach. Something about that sentence just seemed wrong... Maybe it was the fact that he was named after the Lord of the Underworld himself! "S-Seriously, who are you?! And what are you doing in here?!" Hades smirked.

"Calm yourself child." He said as he straightened himself up. He looked over at DJ and raised his hand. "I'm not going to hurt you... I'm here" He snapped his fingers. "to talk."

 _ **SLAM!**_

DJ jumped when he felt something large slam onto the floor behind him. He gulped, the dread growing, building up in his throat. He glanced behind him, only to see a large metal wall, blocking him off from the rest of the hall way. A second slam was heard, and DJ watched as a second wall fell behind Hades.

"...Mercy." DJ squeaked, backing up against the wall. "What do you want?! And what do you mean "resident"?! What's going on?!"

"Igor was right... You are special." DJ stopped. While the dark feeling in his gut feeling was still there, it noticeably decreased when he heard that.

"Igor...?" DJ blinked. Did... Did this guy know about the Velvet Room?

"Come closer _Wild Card_." He said, convincing DJ immediately. "I wish to speak with you." DJ complied, slowly making his way to the man. He noticed Blackout and Dead growl at him, making him glare back. "Forgive the Hounds... They don't take kindly to intruders."

"I've noticed..." DJ muttered, looking at Blackout before glancing back at Hades. "S-So... I've already asked this but... Who are you?"

"Your distrust is not misplaced, but I can guarantee you I mean no harm. Just be glad it's me and not _**the**_ _**Reaper**_." Hades explained, trying to get the disc jockey to calm down. It seemed in vain, however, as he only looked even more confused at the mentioning of a "Reaper". "As I've said, my names is Hades. You're already familiar with my pups, Deadeye and Blackout, so no introduction will be necessary."

So _he_ was these mutts' master!

"As for why I'm here..."He walked up to DJ, stopping about a foot in front of him. DJ gulped and tried taking a step back, only to realize he already had his back against the wall. DJ gulped and prepared for anything... Only to be confused and in pain once Hades pinched both his cheeks. "Igor told me about a new Wild Card, so I figured I'd see him for myself."

"Ow~!" DJ whined before slapping the man's hands away. "Knock it off!" He yelled, earning a chuckled from Hades. "And how the heck do you know Igor?!"

Hades took a few steps back, giving DJ some space. "He and I go way back... In a way, you could call me his _brother_."

"...Za?!" DJ yelled, instantly regretting his question. "What's that supposed to mean?!"

"Kuku... I'm not telling." He said,making DJ groan. Was he gonna have to ask Igor about this? Geez, just how much stuff did he still have to ask him?! "Now that I've introduced myself... Who are you? What is _your_ name?"

"U-Um..." DJ scratched the back of his neck. "They call me DJ..."

"No Wild Card, you misunderstand." Hades said, confusing the disc jockey. "I couldn't give a _damn_ about that silly alias you've been calling yourself for the past few weeks." DJ winced at Hades' new tone. "I want to hear your _name_." He spat, making DJ's eyes widen.

"H-How did you-"

"Child, no thought or memory can be hidden from me in this tower." He explained. "Yours, your teammates', even the ones from the woman standing in the lobby!" His smile grew. "I can see it all... Your past, your reasons... Your _**deal**_." DJ winced. "So what will it be? Just realize that if you can't even bring yourself to answer such a simple question _truthfully_ , than you don't even deserve to be the Wild Card." Hades's smile never left him, but it became more unnerving than comforting.

"..." DJ bit his lip. His fists clenched, turning white at the sheer force he was using. "I-I... I can't tell you..." He whispered, making Hades' smile fade.

"..." Hades sighed, straightening his suit. "Very well then. In that case, I've seen all that I needed to see. I'll be taking my leave now." DJ blinked.

"W-What?!" He yelled. "What do you mean?! You haven't told me anything!"

"Do you even deserve answers after not being able to tell someone your _name_?" He spat, making DJ wince. "Besides... What good would telling you do" Hades let out a rather terrifying chuckle. "when you won't remember any of this?"

"WhaHMPH?!" DJ didn't even get the words out of his mouth before Hades appeared in front of him in a flash, his right index and middle finger inside the disc jockey's mouth. DJ let out a whimper a he stared straight into Hades' eyes. His big bright yellow eyes.

"Your entire presence here is based off a lie." He whispered to him, voice dripping with a hint of malice. "Don't you think you're getting a bit careless? Making such great friends? After all..." DJ winced before he practically started bawling. A sharp pain jolt through his entire body, making him convulse and shake violently. The only thing keeping him balanced was Hades, who held him by his shirt. The disc jockey could feel his vision getting darker and blurrier by the second.

"What good is making friends when you are destined to fade away?"

* * *

DJ blinked.

And blinked again.

And again.

...What was he doing exactly?

Mitsuru had told them about an access point and... Oh yeah! They had split up! No wonder Yukari and Junpei weren't with him. Huh. Funny. It felt like something was missing, but he couldn't really think of anything.

Either way, DJ kept looking for the access point, only to soon get a call from Mitsuru telling him Yukari had found it. After a few turns and a newfound headache in DJ's skull, the team was reunited, although Junpei looked somewhat miffed that he wasn't the one who found it. That was when DJ noticed what made this access point different.

Unlike the others, this one had an interface, one that also appeared on the access point in the lobby. With it, they could go from the lobby straight to the fifth floor without having to go through the other four floors! To DJ, this was just what they needed. With a pat on their backs, the team warped back into the lobby, their expedition complete.

* * *

"My my, you sure know how to pick them Igor." Hades said as he sat across from the man in the Velvet Room. Both his Hounds stood by his side. The velvet attendants stood by their master's side in a small staring match with the Hounds.

"It was not I who chose him Hades. You know that." Igor said, chuckling. "And was your usual method truly necessary?"

"Oh come now Igor..." Hades whined. "You know better than anyone that I enjoy meeting the new ones up close. It was the same with the other two..." He paused. "But this one's..."

"Different." Igor finished for him. "Believe me when I say that whispering doubt into his heart may prove to be more troublesome to him than it did to the others..."

"True... However" Hades stood up. "it's _your_ job to guide the new Wild Cards. It is _mine_ to place the seeds of despair into their hearts." He smirked. "I was born to make them panic, to give them the trials they must overcome... Isn't that right dear brother?"

"You and I are not brothers." Igor said simply, earning a pout from his visitor. "You and I were created by two completely different gods Hades. In fact, be grateful you were even given the name of such a powerful deity."

Hades chuckled, turning around. "Phil would be proud at how far you've gotten Igor." He whistled, calling his Hounds to him. "Goodbye Igor."

Igor watched him as he disappeared out of his sight before looking at an image of DJ on his table, his grin never fading.

"It appears that your trials are going to become even more difficult than before... Hehe! This should be interesting."

* * *

 _ **4/24 (Fri) - EARLY MORNING  
FULL MOON IN: 15**_

* * *

"A transfer student? Already?" DJ asked Yukari as the two walked to class. The girl nodded in response.

"Yeah." She answered. "A few friends of mine from the Archery Club overheard a rumor about two transfer students coming in today. And one of them is in our class." DJ whistled.

"Hot damn... Don't you think it's a bit early for that though?" He wondered out loud, which he got an answer in the form of a shrug.

"Maybe something happened to them. You never know." Yukari replied, also confused as to why they were getting transfer students so early in the school year. School had only started about two weeks ago. DJ shrugged and the two walked ito class, giving a quick "Hello" to Junpei and taking their seat.

Pretty soon, Mrs. Toriumi came in, and any conversations that were being had stopped immediately, although DJ was more preoccupied twirling a pencil in his hand... Nice to know he has his priorities in order.

"Alright everyone, may I have your attention?" Mrs. Toriumi, getting everyone's full attention... Except for DJ's. Put the pencil down man! "We have a new student joining us today." The teacher looked at the door and nodded. "You can come in now."

The student at the door walked in, talking a piece of chalk and writing their name on the board. Many of the students had begun whispering amongst themselves, while DJ was still playing with his pencil. He ended up getting bored though, and decided to look up at the new student.

The pencil dropped.

"Hello!" The new student greeted, a bright smile on her face. "My name is Hamuko Arisato! It's nice to meet you!"

* * *

 **PERSONA 3 THEATER**

 **"So Orpheus," Jack Frost said, wearing a white lab coat and a pair of large glasses over his eyes. "how does it feel to be one of the weakest Personas in the game?"**

 **"Jack, what are you doing?" The metal man asked, already getting sick of the snowman's antics. Jack could only smile and hold his arms out.**

 **"This is the** _ **Persona 3 Theater**_ **!" He said. "A series of non-canonical little stories staring us, the Personas, that play after each major story event! And by that, I mean this is the one moment we get to screw around with each other and no one can berate us for it!"**

 **"Wouldn't DJ's awakening count as major a story event? And what's with the outfit?"**

 **"Meh. That was a part of the tutorial. No dice there. And this is my scientist uniform." The snowman pointed at Orpheus. "And I'm here to because I need your help!"**

 **"Not interested." Orpheus said, floating away.**

 **"Wait! What if I said I could make you the strongest Persona in the game?"**

 **"...** _ **Can**_ **you?"**

 **"Nope. But what if I said I could?" Orpheus facepalmed and started going away again. "Aw, come on Orpheus! We need a joke for this segment! That's what this whole thing is about!"**

 **"Can't you get Pixie to help you?" Orpheus groaned, massaging his temples.**

 **"Miss Afraidofherownshadow? Heck no!" Jack whined. "And Apsaras is being a kill joy, as always! Honestly, that woman is driving me crazy!"**

 **"Um, Jack?"**

 **"I can't have fun for five minutes without her shouting for me to stop! Geez, if I'm annoying her that much, why doesn't she just get away from. I'm Jack Frost! The lovable snowman who loves having fun! I don't need to bend to the will of some blue skinned concubine!"**

 **"Jack."**

 **"Oh, and like she's perfect. Apsaras is a dancer the pleases gods! She's like a sex-object! A little whore who keeps on dancing for peoples' pleasure! Heck, I'm surprised she didn't sexually assault DJ when he came here!"**

 **"** _ **Jack**_ **!"**

 **"What?!" The snowman shouted before realizing something off. "She's right behind me, isn't she?" Orpheus nodded. Jack gulped and turned around, only to be greeted by Apsaras' angry face. "...Um, hi?"**

 **She punched him in the face, breaking his glasses in two and knocking him on the floor. Orpheus looked at the now unconscious Persona and back at Apsaras.**

 **"You didn't need to deck him that hard." Orpheus, said, earning a scoff from the woman.**

 **"He deserved it for not getting his facts straight." She crossed her arms. "I am not a** _ **concubine**_ **. I dance for gods, not sleep with them."**

 **"...Stripper." Jack muttered, earning him a kick in the side.**

 **"Let the woman be Frost." Orpheus said. "I believe you've gone a bit too far this time." Apsaras gave the metal man a smile.**

 **"Thanks you Orpheus."**

 **"Geez!" Jack whined from his spot on the floor. "There are only four of us here and Silvermane is already shipping OrpheusXApsaras... I really** _ **really**_ **hope that doesn't mean I get stuck with Pixie!"**

 **"W-Why would that be bad?" Jack shot up and turned around, only to see Pixie, on the brink of tears.**

 **"Shit."**

 **"W-What's wrong w-with me?!" Pixie yelled before the floodgates burst open. Jack immediately panicked.**

 **"Congratulations Jack, you made a girl cry."**

 **"Shut it Apsaras! Aw man, why am I being the Butt Monkey here?! I freakin' hate that trope!" Pixie turned around and ran away, still crying. "Wha- Pixie! Wait! I'm sorry!"**

 **Orpheus and Apsaras watched as the snowman ran after the pixie. The blue skinned woman groaned and rubbed her temples.**

 **"Pleases tell me things aren't going to get worse..." She whined.**

 **"With all the Personas that are still stuck in DJ's sea of souls?" Orpheus deadpanned. "I doubt it."**

* * *

 **SAVE GAME?  
YES -  
NO**

 **SAVING...  
**

 **SAVED.**


	8. The Journey: Part VII

_**Persona 3 FES:  
"Advent of the Fool"**_

 _ **LOAD DATA  
1\. DATE: 4/24 (Fri) Gekkoukan High School**_

 _ **PLV 6 - DJKL**_

 _ **LOAD THIS GAME?  
YES -  
NO**_

 _ **LOADING...**_

 _ **LOADED.**_

* * *

 _ **4/24 (Fri) – MORNING  
FULL MOON IN: 15**_

* * *

DJ was having a very _very_ hard time concentrating right now.

The class was silent, save for the sound of pencils scribbling in their notebooks and Mrs. Toriumi's teaching. However, even when the entire class managed to stay focused on the lesson, DJ could not. No, he was more focused on the brunette who was sitting a few seats to his left...

In all honesty, he felt his brain explode in so many places when he saw her.

It was her. The same girl he saw on the night of his awakening. The one from that vision... Weren't there supposed to be two transfer students? Now DJ was probably jumping the gun a bit, but if she was one of them... Would that mean that the boy he saw that night was the other one?!

...The fact that she noticed his glance and answered back with a bright smile didn't help calm him down at all.

He shook his head, tearing his gaze away from her before looking back at the teacher. He'd still occasionally glance at the newcomer though. She said her name was Hamuko, right? Hamuko Arisato...

There was something about that surname of hers that seemed... out of place. Like it wasn't meant to be there. It was difficult to explain, but... It just seemed _weird_ for it to be there, if that makes any sense. It was weird for _her_ to be there... Although he did have a feeling a certain long nosed fortune teller could help him make some more sense out of this whole thing.

He groaned. He was not looking forward to go to Tartarus again. Honestly, he needed to find some other way to contact him _other_ than the Velvet Door in the tower's lobby. Easier said than done.

He groaned, pinching the bridge of his nose in frustration.

This was going to be a _long_ day.

* * *

 _ **(Fri) - LUNCHTIME**_

* * *

Well, at least lunch would provide a little relief. DJ let out a sigh he didn't even know he was holding in when the bell rang. A little talking with his friends ought to calm his nerves down. I mean, at least until he decided to book their next Tartarus mission...

"Hey, Hamuko-chan, right?" DJ's head bolted up and watched the scene in front of him play out in horror. Junpei, Yukari, Kenji and even Kaz were at Hamuko's desk. "You wanna have lunch with us?" Junpei asked, his idiotic grin plastered on his face

 _"Nonononononononononono!"_ DJ's inner voice chanted as the girl cutely put a hand on her chin. _"Please say no. Please say no. Please say no!"_

Hamuko smiled brightly at the group and stood up.

"Sure!"

 _"Dammit Junpei!"_ DJ bit down hard on his tongue to stop himself from lashing out at the capped boy in public. _"Crap! Now what am I gonna do?! I am not going to talk to her until I finally get what's going on!"_ Why? Why was this happening to him? He grit his teeth and glanced at the door. He only had one option here...

Run away before any of his friends could notice.

And run he did.

DJ quickly bolted out the door, silently enough to avoid being heard or seen from the group. Hearing them come out of the class, DJ quickly ducked behind a trashcan as the group walked away, completely oblivious to his location.

The disc jockey let out a sigh of relief. "Man, that was a close one..." He muttered, getting out from behind the trash can. The disc jockey straightened his jacket before turning around and walking the other way. "If anyone asks, I'll just say I had to go to the bathroom or something. No big- _Oof!_ " Unfortunately, his inner monologue ended up distracting him, making him bump into someone. "Oh, sorry about that..."

...Really?

DJ had to bite his tongue to resist screaming in shock. Staring at him was a pair of silver eyes, one being partially hidden by a mop of blue hair. He had a nearly emotionless expression and he stared at DJ with a deadpanned look.

It was the boy from the vision.

 _"Of course it is. Murphy's Law is a_ _ **bitch**_ _."_ He growled in his head. The blue haired boy blinked before shaking his head.

"Meh, no need." He said, shrugging it off. "I wasn't paying much attention myself..."

An awkward silence fell between the two.

"Um..." DJ trailed off, trying to find something to say. "...Well um... I'd better go now..." He said, quickly walking around the newcomer and back on his old course.

"...Hey." He said, making DJ freeze. "You wouldn't happen to be from 2-F, would?" DJ turned around and stared at the boy, his face doing nothing to mask his surprise.

"Za...? Yeah..." DJ started. "I am... Why?"

"You wouldn't happen to know where my sister is, do you?" He asked. "She's about yay high, red eyes, can't spend two second without smiling..."

"..." DJ stared at the blue haired man. "...The new girl?" He asked, earning a nod in response. "She went to the cafeteria with a few friends of mine... She's your sister?!"

"Yep." The boy answered, nodding. He raised an eyebrow. "Is that a problem?"

"No! No problem at all! I didn't know! That's all!" The disc jockey shook his hand in front of him, trying to deny any negative claims against him. "S-So that would make you... What's your name?"

"Minato. Minato Arisato." He replied bluntly. "Anyway, I should get going. Thanks for the info..." Minato trailed off, not knowing what to call the boy in front of him.

"Oh, uh... M-My name's DJ." The disc jockey replied. Minato raised an eyebrow at the name before his face regained it's usual stoic form. Without a second thought he stuffed his hands in his pockets and walked away, leaving DJ alone.

The disc jockey watched him walk away before turning around and making a mad dash as far away from him as possible.

Really? Really?! They _both_ showed up here?! And they were _siblings_?! He was just joking when he thought the boy could've been the other transfer student! It was a _joke_! Just what the heck was happening?!

 _"Ugh... This is insane!"_ He whined, walking down the hall. _"Just what is going in here?"_ He bit his lip and sighed in frustration. _"...Maybe I'm overreacting a bit... They didn't seem like apparitions or anything like that when I talked to them. Well, Minato-san was pretty scary, but he seemed... normal enough."_ He shook his head.

Igor. He was the only guy who could give him answers. DJ clenched his fist and kept on walking.

"Looks like I have to book the next Tartarus mission for tonight..." He was about to say something else before he noticed something outside the corridor he was walking in.

A tree.

The boy whistled, walking up to the small tree to touch it's bark. "A persimmon tree. I haven't seen one of these since I've been in Oji-san's botanic garden." He ran his hand on the wood before stopping on a leaf. With a small tug, the leaf came off the branch. "A symbol of triumph, huh...?" He smiled before putting it in his pocket. "No how am I gonna convince the others to go to Tartarus again..."

* * *

"So Hamuko-chan, why'd you transfer here so early?" Yukari asked, making the new girl look up at her. The group had already made to the cafeteria, where Kaz had decided to try to get his hands on a Gekkoukan lunch. While Junpei and Kenji were rooting for him, Yukari was left with Hamuko, a very pleasant change in her opinion.

It's not that she didn't like the boys, but she needed to let _some_ girl join their little circle. She ate her lunch everyday with a bunch of boys. She needed a little less testosterone in her life.

Hamuko smiled brightly before answering. "Well it _was_ a bit of a last minute decision." She admitted, scratching her cheek. "Oji-san sent us here. Something about his work or something. We just moved here and Gekkoukan was the best choice for us."

"...Us?" Yukari asked tilting her head. Hamuko swallowed and nodded.

"Yeah, me and my brother!" She smiled. "Oji-san would never let me come to Iwatodai on my own! So Aniki and I came together! We have our own apartment here and everything!" Yukari blinked.

"Wow! That's pretty impressive." She marveled. "So you two live here on your own?"

"Yep! Oji-san sends us everything we need! Food money, rent money, you name it!" Yukari's mouth dropped. Just how much money did their grandpa have?

"T-That's amazing!" She beamed, smiling. The two girls laughed. "So what do you think of Iwatodai?" Hamuko put her lunch down.

"Well..." She trailed off. The girls twiddled her thumbs trying to come up with a response. "I like it here... But I have been kind of homesick..." Yukari gave a small smile and patted her on the shoulder.

"I can imagine... Did you have a lot of friends back in Tokyo?" She asked, earning a nod from the red eyed girl.

"Yeah... And I really miss- Oh! Aniki! Over here!" Hamuko yelled, waving her arms in the air, getting Kenji and Junpei's attention. Yukari blinked in shock as the persona Hamuko was calling over walked up to them.

"There you are Hamuko." He said, a very small smile on his face. Hamuko squealed and jumped on him, enveloping him in a tight hug.

"Aniki! Where have you been?" She asked, not letting go of her brother.

"Hamuko... You're ch-choking me again..." He whined, making the girls eyes go wide. She let go of him instantly, and he was relieved to have oxygen back in his lungs.

"S-Sorry Aniki..." She muttered. She had her hands behind her back and she lightly kicked the floor. However, a moment of realization snapped her out of her slump. "Oh, I almost forgot!" She turned to the group. "Everyone, this is my brother, Minato!"

"Nice to meet you guys." The blue haired youth said, his expression barely changing.

"Hey there! The name's Kenji!" Kenji greeted him. "So your Hamuko-chan's brother?" The boy nodded.

"Nice to meet you Minato-kun!" Junpei greeted. "I'm Junpei... Say..." The capped boy placed a hand on his chin. The group around him blinked, surprised. It wasn't always that Junpei would stop and think about something. "Do I... know you from somewhere?"

Minato blinked. "I don't think so..." He trailed off. A genuinely confused expression appeared on his face, albeit briefly.

"...You know, Junpei-kun's right." Yukari said, getting the boy's attention. "You do look kinda familiar..." She glanced back at Hamuko again. "Now that I think about it... Hamuko, are you sure this your first time here in Iwatodai?"

The girl nodded. "Yeah. Me and Aniki have never been here before... I think you might be confusing us with someone else..." Yukari bit her lip. There was something about this that was nagging at her skull, but she just couldn't put her finger on it...

"A-Anyway..." The brunette shook her head and smiled at Minato. "My name is Yukari. It's nice to meet you." The boy gave a quick nod, acknowledging the introduction.

"And I'm Kazushi!" All in attendance jumped as Kaz's voice made himself known. He walked up to the group, carrying much more than one person's lunch in his arms. "Check it out guys! I managed to snag a lunch! To celebrate, I bought some extra for everyone!"

"Really! Sweet!" Kenji said, helping himself to his friend's lunch. "I knew you could do it buddy!"

"Weren't you betting against him?" Junpei whispered, earning an elbow to the ribs. Hamuko couldn't help but giggle at the exchange.

Kaz however noticed something off. "Hey... Where's DJ?" The group stopped for a moment, looking around... Kaz was right, DJ wasn't with them.

"That's weird..." Junpei muttered, scratching the back of his neck. "Come to think of it, I don't even remember him coming here with us anyway..."

"Who's... DJ?" Hamuko asked, cutely tilting her head.

"A friend of ours. He's in our class actually." Yukari explained. "He usually eats lunch with us... I don't know why he hasn't shown up."

"I saw him." Minato said, getting everyone's attention. "He's the guy with sunglasses and the orange highlights in his hair, right?" The group at the table nodded. "Yeah, I saw him. He wasn't looking so good when I talked to him. He seemed jumpy... Maybe he went to the nurse's office?"

"Really? I hope he's okay..." Yukari whispered putting a hand on her chest. Was DJ sick? Maybe he tired himself out too much last time in Tartarus... Dammit, now she worried. She sighed and put a rice ball in her mouth.

"Oh!" Hamuko exclaimed, slamming a fist into her empty palm. "You mean that cute brunette boy with the orange jacket?"

Yukari nearly choked on said rice ball.

"... _Cute_?" She asked cautiously, earning a vigorous nod in response.

"Yeah! I know who you're talking about now. He kept staring at me all day in class." She admitted with a small blush. "I caught him looking at me earlier... And I thought he was kinda cute." Junpei and the rest of the boys swore they saw Yukari's eye twitch... along with Minato's.

Kaz whistled. "Man, DJ works fast." He admitted. "He hasn't even talked to Hamuko-chan yet and he's already made a good impression on her."

"Yeah." Kenji agreed. "Who knew he'd go for the new girl so soon?"

"Well I can't blame the guy." Junpei said, a smirk on his face. He leaned in closer to Yukari. "After all, he _does_ have a thing for _brunettes_." Yukari let out a low growl as she felt her face heat up.

"Leave me out of this..." She muttered, only fueling Junpei's teasing.

"Who said I was talking about _you_?" Junpei's smirk grew when Yukari tensed up, her face reddening even more. She had walked right into that one... "Wassamatta? You jealous Yuka-tan?"

"I am _not_!"

"Holy crap, she totally is!" Kenji agreed with a smirk rivaling Junpei's.

"Shut it Kenji! And don't you even _think_ about opening your damn trap Kaz!" She yelled at the sports enthusiast, who quickly shut his mouth before he even got the words out.

"O-Oh! I'm sorry Yukari-chan..." Hamuko stated with a blush. "I-I didn't know he was already taken... Don't worry. He's all yours."

"Oh, for the love of-!" Yukari facepalmed, her patience wearing thin. "Not you too Hamuko-chan!"

"He had _better_ stick with Yukari." Minato grumbled, his expression more annoyed than usual. "It'll be a cold day in Hell before I let Hamuko date anyone."

"Aniki!" Hamuko face turned bright red before balling her hands into fist and showered her brother with light punches. "All I said was that he was cute! Why do you always have to act like this?"

"Aw man..." Junpei whined. "Minato-kun's the "overprotective big brother" kind of guy. There goes my chances with Hamuko..."

" _What?_ "

"Nothing! Nothing at all!"

As Junpei tried to calm the now annoyed Minato down, Yukari couldn't help but sigh in frustration.

With friends like these, who needs enemies?

* * *

 _ **4/24 (Fri) - AFTER SCHOOL**_

* * *

 _"Maybe I could just sneak out and head to Tartarus on my own..."_ DJ mused. _"But if I get caught, Mitsuru-senpai is gonna want a good explanation... Dammit..."_ School was out and DJ decided to for a walk to clear his head. Now, he was sitting at the fountain in Paulownia Mall, trying to think of a way to get to the Velvet Room.

After lunch had ended, DJ found himself bombarded with questions by a very worried Yukari. While he was glad to see she cared about him, DJ couldn't exactly tell her what was going on. Thankfully, the nurse excuse he had thought up of did the trick and she calmed down shortly after... Although she did keep looking at him and Hamuko during class... Actually, _glaring_ was a more appropriate word. Weird.

Speaking of which, DJ had, thankfully, managed to evade said girl and her brother after school. He realized he couldn't keep avoiding them forever though... If he kept "going to the nurse's office", people might start getting suspicious. If he could at least make some sense out of this whole mess, then maybe he wouldn't _have_ to avoid them...

He sighed in frustration as he stood up. Man, just what was he going to do?

...

" _Okay, let's let Lady Luck decide."_ DJ thought, taking out a coin. _"Heads I go to Tartarus on my own, tails and I try to convince the gang to go tonight."_ Placing the coin in position, DJ sent it up with a simple flick of his thumb...

Only for it to land on the floor and bounce away from the disc jockey. Far _far_ away.

"...Really?" DJ muttered to no one is particular. He walked after the coin, which had finally settled down a few feet in front of him. "Why does this only happen... to..." As DJ bent down to pick up the coin, he couldn't help but notice something...

A blue glow coming from an alley in front of him.

"No way..." He said, pocketing the coin. Was that the... The DJ quickly took a peek down the alley...

And saw the Velvet Door.

"Well I'll be damned."

* * *

"Welcome to the Velvet Room."

DJ blinked as he regained his vision. Blue elevator, opera music in the background and sitting at a table with a troll-goblin-whatever-he-was? Yep, he was back.

Igor smiled at his mild surprise and chuckled. "I see you've found the other door I've prepared for you." His smile grew as DJ turned his attention towards him. "I figured you would want a way to speak with me without having to go to the tower every night, especially with today's occurrences."

"Igor..." The guest muttered before noticing something. "Where's Liz and Theo?"

"I'm afraid that the two of them have left for the day." He said. "I suppose you could say that they're "taking a break"." DJ groaned.

"I'll never get this place's work ethics..." He muttered, earning a laugh from the man.

"Now then, what seems to be troubling you?"

DJ blinked, his face emotionless. The boy took a deep breath. "Igor..." He slammed his hands on the table. "What the hell is going on?!" Igor chuckled.

"Are you talking about the Arisato twins that have joined your school?"

"No shit Sherlock!" DJ spat, glaring at the elderly man. "It's high time you tell me about that little vision I had during my awakening... And about that Persona..." He small pain surged through his head as he recalled large metal jaws sinking into black flesh.

"Ah!" Igor said, feigning surprise. "I see..." He snapped his fingers, making a tarot deck appear in front of him. "Minato and Hamuko Arisato... I'll admit, even I'm surprised at their appearance."

"Why?"

"Because..." He took the first card from the deck and placed it on the table.

 _ **The Fool Arcana.**_

"Those two were once Wild Cards themselves."

"...What?" The disc jockey asked cautiously, staring at the Fool Arcana. "What the hell is that supposed to mean?!"

"Exactly what I said." Igor explained, not helping DJ in the slightest. "Simply put, they were once Wild Cards _**in another life**_."

"Za?"

"There have been many Wild Cards in the past..." Igor started, placing the card back within the deck. "Many of them faced against trials very similar to yours. Think about it. What did they say in your vision?"

DJ bit his lip and pondered.

 _"Go ahead. It's your turn now."_

 _"Who knows? You might even do a better job than us!"_

"...They used to be like me..." He muttered. "In another life... They're like reincarnations!"

"Precisely."

"But... Why are they here? And the black Persona from that night! Why haven't I been able to summon it again?"

"That... I cannot say." He said, making DJ droop. "Information regarding the black Persona is something that will come in time... As for the twins..." He put a hand on his chin. "They are reincarnations... They have no memories of when they were Wild Cards. Their very _lives_ are different then what they once were..." He chuckled. "Your paranoia with them is also a bit of a dilemma..."

"Oy! You try meeting someone you saw in a _vision_!"

"However..." Igor ignored the DJ, spiting him. "You must understand that they are here as normal people, only wishing to befriend you." He waved his hand, sending the deck away. "Wild Cards are naturally drawn to one another. You cannot just keep avoiding them."

"..." DJ let out a sigh of relief. "Just... normal people, eh? Reincarnations?" Igor nodded, and DJ let out a laugh. "That... That makes sense." No wonder they were so... normal around everyone. They were just normal kids. Two teenagers, living their normal lives...

Who used to be able to summon multiple Personas in a past life.

Yeah, that was gonna take some getting used to.

"Well, that's all I got to ask... Unless, of course, you want to tell me about that black Persona?" Igor raised an eyebrow. "Yeah, I've been here long enough to know there are things that you won't tell me..." He sighed.

"In time Wild Card. In time." DJ stood up and dusted himself.

"Well... See you." He turned around and walked towards the door, realizing an important fact. "No Personas this time?"

"You wanted the two of us to speak alone, so your Personas granted your wish. They are _you_ after all." DJ nodded and turned to the door, saying goodbye as he felt the world around him blur.

* * *

 _ **4/24 (Fri) - EVENING**_

* * *

"Well that was productive." DJ muttered, walking out of the alley. Well his problems were all settled in under... five minutes. Man, he might not have gotten all the answers, but the ones he _did_ get helped.

A loud rumbling noise coming from his stomach stopped him.

"Dammit... I skipped lunch today..." He bit his lip. "Stupid reincarnations... He looked around the mall. There were a few food places here, but DJ wasn't the kind of guy to try something new without being invited.

That left only one place.

* * *

"Hagakure." DJ said simply as he walked through the front door of the restaurant. Again, he had to thank Kenji for taking him here. Is it was just a hop on his way to dorm and presto. Nothing like some ramen to soothe the savage beast known as his stomach. Heck, he bet Kenji thought the same too!

Speaking of Kenji...

DJ smirked once he noticed a familiar mop of brown hair sitting at the counter. Great minds think alike, he supposed. Walking up behind him. He cleared his throat.

"I'll have whatever he's having." He said, taking a seat next to Kenji. His classmate looked up from his bowl and stared at him, surprised. He quickly gulped down the forkful of ramen and smiled.

"Hey DJ!" He greeted, offering a high five. DJ happily obliged. "What's up?"

"Hungry." DJ said simply as a bowl was placed in front of him. That was fast. "I skipped lunch today, remember?"

"Oh yeah..." Kenji muttered, putting a hand on his chin. He shook his head. "Man, you won't believe what you missed dude! Yukari was so jealous of Hamuko!" DJ raised an eyebrow.

"Za?"

"She got angry when she found out you kept staring at her." Kenji smirked, leaning a bit closer to the disc jockey. "You work fast buddy. You haven't even talked to Hamuko-chan yet and she's already wrapped around your finger!"

"..." DJ blinked. "...What the hell are you talking about?" Kenji blinked before facepalming.

"...Really dude? Really?" He said, earning a confused look from the disc jockey. "Forget it..." He mumbled. After that the two fell into a rather awkward silence as the two kept eating. Fortunately, Kenji got sick of the odd atmosphere and broke the silence. "So... Your dorm is co-ed, right?"

"Yep."

"Does that mean you can go into Yukari's room?"

DJ nearly choked and on his noodles once Kenji said that. He wasn't sure why, but imagining going into Yukari's room made his face feel hot.

"Wha- No!" He nearly shouted, making Kenji smirk.

"Your face says otherwise." He said, leaning closer. "I bet you've been in there plenty of times... Are you sure there's nothing going on between you two?"

"...This again?" DJ asked exasperated. "I told you, there's nothing going on between me and Yukari."

 _"I seriously doubt that. Especially with what I saw today."_ As much as Kenji wanted to say that upfront, he decided against it and went back to eating. "Meh. If you say so." He slurped up another forkful and shrugged. "Personally, I don't like girls her age anyway."

"You're weird."

"Look who's talking!" The two laughed. "But seriously... I want to tell you something." DJ raised an eyebrow. "This stays between you and me, okay?" DJ nodded and his friend continued. "I have my eye on someone..."

"Really?" DJ asked, earning a nod.

"Yep. I'm thinking about asking her out. This is the big plan I was telling you about!" Kenji said, smiling.

"Well that's cool!" DJ said, happy that his friend found someone to crush on. "So what makes such a huge deal?"

"...Well... She's a teacher at our school." Kenji winced when he saw DJ freeze.

"...Oh. Oh! _Oh_ ~..." DJ trailed off. How the hell was he supposed to react to that? "...Is it Ms. Toriumi? Look, I know she's hot, but-"

"Wha- No?!" Kenji leaned back, looking... somewhat mortified. "I'm talking about Ms. Kanou!" DJ blinked before letting out a small sound in realization. "...Wait, you think Ms. Toriumi's hot?"

"Oy, we're talking about _you_ here. Not me."

"You enjoy dodging my questions, don't you?" DJ shrugged with a sheepish smile while Kenji just sighed. "So… You think I have a chance?"

"You have as big of a chance as anyone else dude." DJ said, concentrating on his bowl. That was true. Ms. Kanou was their Economics teacher, so pretty much everyone knew about her. That being said, if anyone else was a cougar hunter like Kenji, they probably would try asking her out. Heck, there might even be a few other teachers wanting to court her.

"So… You think you can be there when I ask her out?" DJ raised an eyebrow as he slurped his ramen. "Come on man! I really need some support! I won't be able to handle it on my own!"

"…What's in it for me?" DJ asked, crossing his arms. His friend blinked and rubbed the back of his neck.

"Um… I'll owe you one?" He said, though it came out more like a question. DJ smirked and shook his head. "What if I stop asking you about your secret affair with Yukari?"

"I'm not in an affair with her and _deal_." Kenji smiled as he and the disc jockey shook hands. "Are you sure about this Kenji?"

"Hell yeah I'm sure!" Kenji said, raising a fist in the air. "Just don't tell anyone about this, okay?"

"Relax buddy." DJ said, finishing his bowl. He looked at his friend and gave him a thumbs up. "Your secret's safe with me."

 **KA-SHH!**

 _"Gah~! Come on! One headache is enough..."_

 **"Thou art I… And I am thou… Thou shalt have our blessing when thou chooseth to create a Persona of the Magician Arcana…"**

 _"Ugh... Magician again, eh? "Rank Up", I guess..."_

* * *

 _ **4/25 (Sat) – EARLY MORNING  
FULL MOON IN: 14**_

* * *

 _"...How am I gonna do this?"_ Thought DJ as he walked through the school gates. He had arrived at school much earlier than normal, mainly because he was feeling pretty anxious.

While his talk with Igor helped him organize his thoughts, DJ couldn't help but feel nervous at the idea of becoming friends with the Arisato twins. Reincarnations were strange things, so he really needed to think this through... Or maybe he was just over thinking it. Maybe he should just walk up and say "Hi"?

"How does Junpei do it so easily?" He muttered under his breath. Yukari was right, Junpei _would_ talk to anyone that listened to him...

"So Hamuko-chan, do you have a boyfriend yet?"

DJ stopped walking. His head turned quickly, only to see a small crowd of boys around a brunette girl, one who looked rather uncomfortable at her current situation.

Hamuko took one step back only for the boys to take two steps forward. Her smile seemed a bit forceful this time around, something that honestly confused DJ. "U-Um... Look, I'm really flattered, but I really need to go now..."

"Aw, come on Hamuko-chan!" One of the boys said. "We just wanted to know if you needed someone to... keep you company." A disgusted expression flashed on Hamuko's face as the other boys laughed.

"No, I don't." She said, getting miffed. "Seriously guys, I really need to find my brother..."

"Don't be like that sweetie! We just want to get to know ya!"

DJ blinked before a disgusted expression graced his features. Really guys? It's been one day and they're already ganging up on her like this? Geez!

"...She's just a normal girl." DJ said to himself. "Just a normal girl going to school and is being harassed by a bunch of punks..." He sighed. "I sure as hell hope your right about this Igor... Welp, there's no time like the present to try to get on her good side."

"Come on Hamuko-chan! What do you say?" A dark haired boy said, leaning in closer to the brunette. She glared darkly at the boy as she leaned back.

"Leave me alone already!" She shouted at the boy, making him recoil in shock. The boy sneered at her, his friends following suit.

"What's your deal? We just wanna spend some time with you."

"Well I don't!" Hamuko crossed her arms and glared at the boy. "So do us both a favor and leave before I tell the teachers about you harassing me!"

"Oh! The teachers! I'm _so~_ scared!" The boys let out a laugh at the apparent leader's sarcasm as Hamuko puffed her cheeks out in indignation. "Sorry toots! I ain't leaving 'til I get a yes out of you." Hamuko growled. This guy was really starting to get on her nerves.

" _Oy!_ " A voice shouted out to them before Hamuko could think of something to retort with. The girl let out a silent gasp as she recognized the newcomer. He was glaring at the group, looking ready to punch the first person who crossed him.

"...Who are you?" The black haired boy asked, crossing his arms and glaring back. DJ rolled his eyes and ignored them, walking up to Hamuko.

"..." DJ's breath hitched as he saw her stare at him with a very confused expression. _"She's just a normal girl. She's just a normal girl..."_ He chanted in his head before taking a deep breath. "Are you okay?"

It came out as quiet as a whisper, but Hamuko still heard it. She nodded and mouthed a very quiet thanks before the disc jockey brought his attention to the group of boys.

"Look here boys" He started, glaring at the group again. "I'll give you five minutes to leave this girl alone..." He lowered his sunglasses onto his eyes, hopefully making him look more menacing. "Or else you'll all be waking up in a hospital tomorrow."

That threat… was not one of his best. But it seemed to have the desired affect though, as the boys seemed to shuffle slightly. DJ could recognize a few from his class, but the others were new to him.

Like the dark haired punk acting as the leader. He seemed a bit spooked, but quickly composed himself and glared.

"Hey!" He tried to call him out, making DJ chuckle. "Just who do you think you are?!" The disc jockey smirked, lifting his sunglasses back on top of his head.

"Easy. I'm-" Before DJ could even get the words out of his mouth, he was pulled by the arm and he felt a pair of arms wrap around his own. In fact, no one was expecting it as all the boys seemed to blink in shock.

Hamuko had latched herself onto DJ's arm, her bright smile back on her face as she looked at the crowd.

"What do you think?" She asked, snuggling into DJ's chest. "He's my boyfriend!"

...

 _"Za?"_ DJ repeated in his head a thousand times as he felt his face heat up. He looked between the girl and back at the group of boys, who all stared at him with their mouths agape. He looked one last time at the girl on his arm, who looked up at him with that bright smile of hers. However, it looked like she was a bit embarrassed by the situation as well. Her smile seemed forced, her cheeks were pink and her eyes practically screamed "Please play along!". He felt her grip on him get tighter and he gulped.

 _"...Okay, that's the last time I go to Igor for social advice..."_

* * *

 **SAVE GAME?  
YES -  
NO**

 **SAVING...**

 **SAVED.**


	9. The Journey: Part VIII

**Persona** _ **3 FES:  
"Advent of the Fool"**_

 _ **LOAD DATA  
1\. DATE: 4/25 (Sat) **__**Gekkoukan High School**_

 _ **PLV 6 - DJKL**_

 _ **LOAD THIS GAME?  
YES -  
NO**_

 _ **LOADING...**_

 _ **LOADED.**_

* * *

 _ **4/25 (Sat) – LUNCHTIME  
FULL MOON IN: 14**_

* * *

"Okay now DJ-kun~! Say 'Ah~'!"

"…"

"Here comes the airplane! Open wide~!"

"…"

"…Pwease DJ-kyun?"

"…"

"… _Pwease~?_ "

 _"…This is so embarrassing…"_

And that my friends is what was going on through a certain disc jockey's mind as a young brunette lightly poked his mouth with a pair of chopsticks, a rice ball at the end of it.

Simply put, DJ was being fed by Hamuko.

He could've sworn that the cafeteria had not been this quiet a few minutes ago, but that was beside the point. He was more worried at the stares he was getting. A plethora of glares from a majority of the boys, a proud and amazed expression from Junpei, Kaz and Kenji, an even scarier glare coming from Hamuko's brother and a stare of rage and disbelief from Yukari…

And the bright smile coming from the girl trying to feed him…

How did he end up in this situation again?

* * *

 _ **EARLIER THAT DAY**_

* * *

 _Boyfriend…_

 _He was… her…_

 _Za?!_

" _Oyoyoyoyoyoyoyoyoyoy!" DJ whispered frantically at the auburn haired girl who was currently clutching his arm. "What's the big idea?!"_

" _S-Sorry!"Hamuko whispered back, frantically looking between him and the group with a forced smile on her face. "Please just play along! Just for a little while!"_

" _I-" DJ shut his mouth as he felt Hamuko clutch onto him tighter. He could feel his face heat up as her more defined… assets pressed onto his side. Man, he could die right there and die a happy man…_

 _Ah! Getting off track!_

 _Shaking the thought out of his mind, DJ turned to look at the group of boys in front of him who were staring at him with an awestruck expression._

" _What the heck…?" One of the boys muttered. "Someone got to her already?"_

… _Well, her little plan seemed to be working. But he wasn't really gonna go along with this... Right?_

… _Right?_

… _Ugh. He was too nice for his own good._

"…" _Cursing his own luck, and Igor, DJ forced a large smile on his face similar to Hamuko's and wrapped his arm around the unsuspecting girl's waist. The girl let out a squeak as their bodies pressed together. "Y-Yep! Sorry to keep you waiting Hamu-chan!" Ignoring the burning sensation that was rising in his cheeks, DJ bent down and planted a soft kiss on the top of her head._

 _Or at least, that's what it looked like he was doing._

" _You. Owe. Me. Big time." He muttered loud enough for Hamuko to hear. With a red face and the same smile from earlier, she nodded._

" _R-Right… You're DJ-kun, aren't you?" She asked cutely. The disc jockey blinked at the fact that she knew his name and nodded…_

 _And then he instantly regretted it._

" _Oh, DJ-kun~!"Hamuko looked up at DJ with tears pooling up in her eyes… Those weren't there a few seconds ago. "All these scary looking boys are being mean to me~!"_

… _Why that sneaky little…_

" _Oh really…" DJ's expression darkened as he turned around to glare at the group. "And why is that?" While DJ's presence earlier didn't have as big of an effect as he had hoped it would, the fact that he was Hamuko's "boyfriend" seemed to have an effect on the boys. Almost like it made them a bit wearier of him._

" _H-hey! We we're sorry buddy…" The one in the front said. "We didn't know she was off the market… But, man. First Takeba-san and now the transfer student? Damn, you work fast dude." Mentioning Yukari's name made DJ frown and Hamuko gasp slightly. Seriously, why did everyone assume they were a couple?!_

" _Hey, I've known Hamuko for a lot longer than you think…" DJ lied. Hamuko was the first to shot him a surprised expression. DJ clicked his tongue in annoyance before placing his sunglasses back on top of his head. "Plus, there was never anything between me and Yukari-san in the first place…"_

" _Eh? Really?"_

"… _Honestly, people like you guys are sad." A smirk crawled its way onto his face. He was already condemned when he agreed to do this. He might as well go out in style. "Are you that desperate to get a girl that you go after the newbies a day after they show up?"_

"… _Hey…" Hamuko pouted, somewhat insulted at being called a "newbie"._

" _Hey! Watch that mouth of yours ya freak!" The black haired boy in the front yelled at him, anger showing up on his features. "Like you're one to talk! Like hell I'm gonna believe you didn't have an affair with Takeba-san! Just who do you think you are?!"_

" _Oh? Did I strike a nerve there?"_

" _Go to Hell!"_

" _After seeing your ugly mug? That sounds like paradise to me…"_

" _Why I oughtta-" he boy tried lunging at DJ, but one of his friends held him back. "Hey! What-" The other boy shushed him and jerked his head to the left, gesturing towards a teacher. "…Shit." The boy grit his teeth as his friend let him go. "Can't make another scene… My parents will kill me if I do…"_

" _You know you're speaking out loud, right?" Hamuko innocently asked. DJ let out a snicker as the boy's face flushed._

" _I-I…" He looked to his friends to back him up, but they simply turned away and whistled. "Ah to hell with it! I don't have time for this shit!" The boy turned around and started stomping away. "I'm outta here! No good, walking light stick…"_

" _Um, Akira? You're talking to yourself again."_

" _Up yours Hibiki!"_

 _DJ and Hamuko blinked as the group in front of them slowly disbanded. Looked like that Akira kid was the ringleader of that little posse. Once they all left, the two sighed in relief._

" _They're finally gone…" Hamuko muttered, feeling a weight being removed from her shoulders._

" _Tell me about it… Geez, why am I always the one stuck in… these…" DJ trailed off when he realized something._

 _Hamuko was still holding his arm. Tightly._

" _Um… Hamuko-san?" He said, getting the girls attention. "You can let go now." Hamuko blinked before looking at their arms, back at DJ and blinking again. Once she realized what she was still doing, her face turned pink and she let go of the disc jockey's arm like it was on fire._

" _Eeek! I-I-I'm really sorry about that!" Hamuko yelled, clasping her hands together over her head. "I'm sosososososososososooooooooosorry! I-I panicked and I didn't know what to do! If Aniki were here he'd just scare them off, but I-"_

" _H-Hey! Easy there!" DJ said, getting her to stop. "I get it, You didn't mean to drag me down like that. It's okay." Hamuko, looked up at him with her eyes watery._

" _R-Really?" She asked, getting a nod in confirmation. "Thank goodness…"_

"… _Um…" DJ shuffled on his feet. This had gotten awkward fast… "I… don't think I've introduced Myself yet." DJ straightened himself up and offered Hamuko a hand. "The name's DJKL. But you can just call me DJ."_

 _Hamuko blinked before smile, any trace of her being worried or upset gone from her face. "Hello DJ-kun!" Ignoring the invisible jab from the honorific, DJ forced a smile as Hamuko shook his hand. "My name's Hamuko! It's nice to finally meet you!"_

" _Um… It's just-" Wait a minute. What did she just say? "Wait. What do you mean "finally"?"_

" _Oh, Yukari-chan and Junpei-kun told me a bit about you yesterday!" She smiled, kicking the floor slightly. "I had seen you earlier in class and my brother saw you yesterday too, but I never got to say hi to you… So hi!" She waved her hand quickly in a mock greeting. DJ couldn't help but chuckle._

" _Well, hi to you too then!" DJ said, laughing. "I don't suppose they said anything bad about me, did they?"_

 _Hamuko put a finger on her cheek and entered a very cute thinking pose. "Let me think… They said you were a bit narcissistic."_

 _Ouch._

" _Sarcastic, dense…"_

 _Double ouch._

" _And that you're porbably as subtle as a nun in a strip club."_

… _Okay, Junpei probably came up with that analogy, but still! Ouch!_

" _Lies! All lies I tell you…! Except the part about me being sarcastic. That's… probably true…" DJ slumped over as Hamuko let out a little giggle._

" _Don't worry! They said plenty of good things about you too!" DJ's eyes shined with hope as Hamuko opened her mouth to continue. Unfortunately, neither of them could continue after what came next._

" _Hey, did you see that?"_

" _Those two are dating already? That was fast."_

" _I thought DJ-san was with Yukari-san…"_

" _I know… You think he's two-timing? Or maybe they had a falling out…"_

" _My question is: How in the hell did he do it?! I couldn't even get near her because of her brother!"_

" _Maybe he got on his good side?"_

 _The two froze as their faces paled._

 _There were people watching them… They hadn't thought about that._

 _Which meant that those boys weren't the only ones who thought they were dating…_

 _DJ could only say one thing in response to that._

" _Karma. Is. A. Bitch."_

* * *

After their little scene, news spread about DJ and Hamuko like wildfire! The two learned the hard way that teenager absolutely loved to gossip and spread rumors. Now at first the rumors were pretty true, usually just exaggerating a detail or two. But by lunch, the two started hearing things that could only make them question just how many times the story was retold.

" _Did you know? Hamuko-chan was getting bullied by these boys, so her boyfriend DJ-san came up and knocked them all out with one punch! Then they started making out in the courtyard!"_

In what part did he result to violence? And he did not make out with her! As adorable as she was, he was _not_ the kind of guy to just make out with a girl he _just met_ …! Although he wouldn't mind being shown some gratitude and THIS IS NOT HELPING!

" _Hey, did you hear! That new transfer student Hamuko-san told DJ-san to beat up a bunch of boys to prove he loved her. And then the two were found making out with each other in the gym!"_

They weren't anywhere _near_ the gym! And again, when did he result to violence?!

" _I don't know anything about a group of boys… But I did overhear that the two came out of the nurse's office this morning… and it didn't look like they were wearing all of their clothes."_

DJ had socked the poor bastard who said _that_ one in the face while Hamuko denied anything and everything that he said with a cherry red complexion.

For some reason, DJ felt the strangest urge to hit Junpei, Kenji and Kaz…

If they hadn't forgotten that they had an audience when pulled their little stunt, Hamuko wouldn't have made such a bold claim and DJ probably would've found some other way to help her. But since the rumors were already everywhere, it was fairly obvious that no one was going to believe them.

Therefore, they came up with the next best solution.

" _Wait, so you want to keep the act up?!"_

" _Please DJ-kun?! No one's gonna believe us if we say that we aren't! I know I obviously shouldn't have done this, especially since you're already off the market, but just for a little while?"_

"… _What do you mean by 'off the market'?"_

They'd keep it up just long enough so that Hamuko could "break up" with DJ in a few weeks. So that should be about… three, four weeks tops.

" _Wait, can't I just break up with you in, like, a few days? Heck, I could just break up with you right now! Lots of boys do that…"_

" _Haha! DJ-kun, don't you get it?_ I'm _breaking up with_ you _! Not the other way around!"_

"… _There's a difference?"_

" _Oh, poor, naive DJ-kun… You have no idea."_

And that is what led to their current predicament.

The only thing DJ could hear were the soft whispers of the students watching as Hamuko's voice was telling him to eat. Seeing Junpei's thumbs up made him want to hit him, but seeing Yukari and Minato's glare just scared the shit out of him. The reason?Easy.

They still haven't had the time to tell them of their little… problem.

DJ wanted to tell them over lunch, but Hamuko dragged him to an empty table, gushing on how it was more "romantic" to eat when it's just the two of them, whatever that meant. So basically he was stuck trying to get fed by a girl while one of his friends and said girl's creepy older brother were trying to kill him by glaring at him… Okay, he could get why Minato was angry at him, but what was up with Yukari?!

"Come on DJ-kun!" Hamuko whispered at him, pouting. "You have to eat something! People are gonna get suspicious if you keep acting like this!" DJ sighed as before looking back at his group of friends.

"Kind of hard to eat with your brother glaring at me like that…" DJ muttered, just loud enough for Hamuko to hear. He brunette winced as she noticed her brother's harsh glare being directed to the disc jockey.

"…I'm actually impressed. Most boys would've wet their pants by now, but you seem to be going strong!" Hamuko's attempt to cheer DJ only earned her a deadpanned stare. "Right. Not helping…"

"Couldn't we just go over there and tell them?" DJ whined. He actually enjoyed being the center of attention, but not when that attention involved having to pretend to be some chick's boyfriend!

"No. If we do that now, people might start getting suspicious and then those boys will start annoying me again!"

"…Wait a minute! Wouldn't they just start annoying you again after you 'break up' with me?!"

"Um… Maybe?"

"Ugh…" DJ groaned before slamming his head on the table, surprising Hamuko. "Why'd I let myself get roped into this…?"

"…I'm sorry…"

"Za?"

DJ's head snapped back up. Hamuko wasn't looking as cheery as she was a while ago. In fact, it was quite the opposite. Her head was down, so her hair blocked DJ's view of her face. Her shoulders trembled slightly and her lips quivered… Was she crying?

"This is my fault…" She whispered. She raised her head to look at DJ, letting him get a better look at her. Tears were starting to build up in her eyes. "I was so stupid… And now I have to throw you in the spotlight just to make things easier for me…" She sniffed. "Stupid Hamuko… Stupid stupid stupid…"

"H-Hey! Don't cry!" DJ almost yelled. He bit his tongue to stop himself, earning a confused look from Hamuko. Wincing a bit from the pain, DJ shook his head and stared at her. "Stop beating yourself up over this. I got myself into this mess." He pointed to himself and continued. "I was the one who wanted to help. Sure you may have gone a bit overboard…" DJ paused as he noticed Hamuko's lips start trembling again. "B-But that's fine because I'm okay with all this! I want to help you out because…"

" _You used to be a Wild Card and I want to befriend you so I can stop being paranoid about it?"_

"Because… that's what friend do!" DJ flashed a bright smile as Hamuko stared at him.

"Friends…" Hamuko whispered. DJ nodded his head vigorously.

"Yeah. I mean, your pals with Yukari and the others. Any friend of theirs is a friend of mine." He smiled again. "I'll help you out of this Hamuko-san! You better believe it!" Hamuko blinked before a smile graced her face. It wasn't like her big bright ones. It was just a simple smile… but it held more emotion than any of her others

"Thanks you DJ-kun..." She looked back down at the bento in her hands. She remembered something the disc jockey said that morning that made her blush. "U-Um DJ-kun?"

"Hm?" He tilted his head, as she looked away from him. "What's up?"

"C-Could you…" She pressed her fingers together. DJ swore he heard someone watching the two of them yell "Kawaii!", but it was probably his imagination… Right? "Um… Would you mind calling me that nickname you gave me from this morning? From when those boys were ganging up on me?"DJ blinked. Nickname? What nickname? All he did was call her…

"H-Hamu-chan?" He asked. Hamuko nodded, her face slightly red. "C-Come on now… I can't do that in front of everyone! I do it with Yukari to tease her every now and then, but-"

"I-I know! She told me about that! I-It's just…" Hamuko gulped and turned covered her cheeks with her hands. "I kinda… liked it…"

Oh.

"Oh…" DJ blushed, rubbing the back of his head. That… wasn't the answer he was expecting. "I-I see… Well okay Hamuk-… Hamu-chan." Hamuko smiled brightly at him before holding up her chopsticks. "But can you stop calling me DJ-kun?"

"Hm?" Hamuko tilted her head cutely. "What do you mean?"

"The honorific!" DJ whined. "It makes my name sound… weird. Just DJ is fine."

Hamuko put a finger on her cheek and let out a loud "Hmm…" After a few seconds, she smiled brightly at him again and shook her head.

"Nope!"

"…Za?" DJ blinked and stared at the brunette in front of him as if she had grown a second head. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means no DJ- _kun_." She said, accentuating the honorific just to tease him. "I don't want to call you just "DJ". I like your name the way it is. Besides…" She giggled and looked at him, her face pink. "I think it sounds cute…"

"…" DJ blinked as the words set in. When they did, he felt his own face turn red."Kn-Knock that off. If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were _trying_ to flirt with me." Hamuko smiled shyly and looked away.

"Yeah… What are the odds?" She whispered. Thankfully DJ didn't seem to hear her. Shaking her head, she smiled again and held up her lunch with a newfound vigor. "Great! Now say "Ah~"!"

"…Are we still doing this?" He asked, making Hamuko frown. She looked like she was about to fall into depression again, which made DJ sigh.

So he leaned closer and bit into the rice ball she was holding, much to her and everyone else's surprise.

 _ **BADUM! KRRRRRRRRRRRRRRASH!**_

" _Son of a-"_ DJ jumped out of his seat in an instant, clutching his chest as he tried to regulate his breathing and accelerated heartbeat. " _What the hell was that?!"_ The disc jockey stared as he noticed that everything around him had halted and a familiar atmosphere filled the area. _"A Social Link?"_ DJ looked over at Hamuko in shock.

He… He could have a Social Link with her? Well, maybe this wasn't a bad idea after all…! But just what Arcana was she anyway?

" _ **Gloria… Gloria…"**_

…That… was new. Since when was there a church quire in these Social Links? Just when he thought things couldn't possibly get any stranger, the card finally appeared over Hamuko's head…

Only it wasn't a card. It was a large, pink diamond. Shaped like a heart.

"… _The hell?"_

" _ **Thou hast began a quest for glory… Thou shall be blessed when thou strengthens the Gloria of the Heart…"**_

" _Again: What the hell?!"_

Before DJ could question the events any further, the heart disappeared from his sight and time returned to its normal flow. Hamuko, not noticing his rather dazed state, smiled brightly before pressing another rice ball in front of his mouth. Unfortunately, due to him still being rather incapacitated and Hamuko using a little too much strength, what was supposed to be DJ's lunch ended up pushing him back, making him fall to the floor.

Hamuko turned towards the fallen boy and gasped in shock. "DJ-kun! Are you okay?"

"…Life, why do you hate me so freakin' much?"

* * *

 _ **4/25 (Sat) – AFTER SCHOOL  
**_

* * *

"Wait, so you two _aren't_ dating?" Yukari asked her newest female friend, who nodded vigorously in response. The group was still in their classroom after school. With class dismissed, Hamuko had brought it upon herself to tell her new friends about the incident that happened earlier.

Needless to say, the reactions were varied… Kinda.

While the boys looked somewhat disappointed, the only one who actually _believed_ the full story was Kaz. Junpei and Kenji on the other hand were pretty skeptical about the whole situation. However, they couldn't find the words to say it, especially after noticing the look of relief that had flashed across Yukari's face when she was told the truth.

"Thank God…" She whispered as she let out a sigh she didn't even know she was holding in. Thankfully no one seemed to hear her. But there was still something bothering her. "So it was all a spur of the moment kind of thing?"

"Yep! We never ever intended for it to go this far!" Hamuko pouted and silently kicked the ground. "I honestly feel kind of stupid…"

"Hey, don't feel bad Hamuko-chan!" Kaz said, hoping to cheer up the brunette. "I mean, if anything, it was those jerk's fault! They're the ones that made you get desperate!" While the beginning seemed to lighten her mood, the word 'desperate' seemed to make her fall into an even deeper depression, making everyone rest glare at the athlete. "…What'd I say?"

"Not that I don't mind seeing you all take your time to discuss the situation like civilized people, but… WOULD SOMEBODY PLEASE GET HIM OFF OF ME?!"

All heads present snapped in the direction of a certain disc jockey's voice only to see a very… interesting sight. DJ was currently being held in a very tight and painful looking headlock. The culprit being none other than Hamuko's older brother Minato who, despite the massive pain he was inflicting on the disc jockey, still maintained a rather calm looking demeanor.

Well, there _was_ the fact that his eyes looked so cold it looked like they could freeze Hell ten times over and still be just as frosty, but to that I say 'details'.

"Aniki!" Hamuko yelled, instantly rushing to the boy's aid. "Let him go!"

"Oh crap, DJ's turning blue already! Come on dude, give it up!"

"Not until he apologizes for taking advantage of my sister."

"He won't be able to say anything if you knock him out!"

The sight was rather comedic actually. A few students had even stopped to look at the group trying to free DJ from Minato's death grip. Junpei, Kenji and Kaz were pulling DJ by the legs in an attempt to pull him out of there while Hamuko tried to get her brother to let go of her faux boyfriend's neck. The only who didn't do anything was Yukari. She could only sweatdrop at the scene, seeing as what everyone was doing didn't seem to be working... at all.

Eventually though, Minato let go, which resulted in the boys spiraling on top of each other and DJ jumping onto his feet as fast as he could. Hamuko hit her brother on the hand, not strong enough to actually faze him, as disc jockey quickly hid behind Yukari, only peeking out from behind to see if Minato was coming back.

The brunette girl rolled her eyes at DJ's childishness and sighed.

"He's not gonna hurt you anymore DJ." She said. The boy's eyes snapped from the bluenette to her. "You can stop hiding."

"...Nope. Not taking any chances." Yukari sighed before stepping out of the way, earning a very unmanly squeal from DJ. "Oy! Not cool!" The archer ignored him and walked up over to where the boys were getting up.

"I've had enough crazy for one day..." She muttered, helping Junpei up. "I'm heading back to the dorm."

"Same here." Junpei muttered as he dusted himself up. "Plus I gotta finish that stupid assignment for Mr. Ekoda's class..."

"You're still doing that thing?" Kenji butted in. "I finished that thing two days ago."

"Zip it Kenji!"

"...There was an assignment?" Kaz blinked as everyone turned to him. Was he being serious? "...Aw crap! Come on Kenji! You gotta help me out here!" The athlete grabbed his bag and the back of Kenji's shirt and bolted out of the room, ignoring the cries of his friend along the way.

"..." The remaining five students deadpanned at the sports enthusiast's reaction.

"Well that... happened." Junpei blinked before shrugging it off. His two fellow SEES members nodded in agreement before following him.

DJ took a few steps before turning around and wave goodbye to the Arisato siblings. Hamuko had a shy smile as she waved back, her face slightly pink. As for Minato he responded with... a nod? What no glare this time around? DJ sighed in relief before turning around and running to catch up with his friends...

Though he could've sworn he felt someone glaring holes in the back of his head... He really hoped it was just his imagination.

And as soon as he was out of earshot...

"Funny. He wasn't all over you like I thought he would be."

"Ugh... Not all boys are like that Aniki... Heck, he seemed more embarrassed than anything."

"...Alright. I approve."

 ** _"ANIKI!"_**

* * *

 **SAVE GAME?  
YES -  
NO**

 **SAVING...**

 **SAVED.**


	10. An Unforseen Complication

**Persona** _ **3 FES:  
"Advent of the Fool"**_

 _ **LOAD DATA  
1\. DATE: 4/25 (Sat) **__**Gekkoukan High School**_

 _ **PLV 6 - DJKL**_

 _ **LOAD THIS GAME?  
YES -  
NO**_

 _ **LOADING...**_

 ** _LOA_** a̗̝ͫȕ̩̘̺͈͇͐̆͂̇̈́ͮḟ͛ͮ͑̐ͅb̜̿ͥ͑̅͊ǔ̖̥͔̱͖͌ͥͅi̺̩͗̃s̠̩͚̓ͭ́̂̚d̟̟͖̠k͖̮̗̺̖͚͂ͅj͚n̺͉͖̟̽̆ä̊̀̀͑̓k̮̠̳̹͂͆̽ͤ͌ͦͮl̠̫̜̭͔̋ͩͨ̽r̭͓͉̬ͦ͋̽̒ͯn̦̠̟͌͑̿͋ȅ͍͖̙̥̜̾d͎͖̊̊̐̔͒̿v̱̞͈ͨ͗ͩ͗́n̹̠̩̫͓̦̬͋́̋͊ͯ ̝͕̣̙̱̘ď̤̬̲̬̯s̲̹̘̟̟̩̏̐̈̇n͓͖̳̈́͂̍̋ͫ͊ä̑ͬ̾͌ͦĵ̞̣̺̱̝̙͗v̗̣̼̼̹ͦn̥̤̼̙͕j͎̮͎͈̩̯̙a͍͚̹̯͊ͪͮ̎͆̍ͮn̤̞̣̹̄ͮ͛͐ͭś͕̹͇̲̼̥̲̏́d͓̟̥̣̽̉ͣ̾̿j̊͊̋̾nͤs̰͎͔̦̲̅ͬ̊̌f͖̹͈̝̗̘̗̑̈́ͣ̔̌ͦj̺k͉̺̣̙͒ͭ̓̓̂b̟̮̦̹̳̎ͭa̺͓̗̰̞̹͊k̻s̜̟ͧj̀̿̓ ̭ ͙̘͉̪͈v̾̆̅ͣ̊̄͛d̎͆s̠͈̎ͫǰ̭̤̲̠̼͙́ͤ͗ḳ̯͎̓ͬͥ̄̎̚̚ͅn̗̲ͮͫ͊̾v̺ͧ͗j͚̙̣̰̪̾̎̅͊̚k͙̭̍̿͆͆̈̔̈d̉s̺͚̱̾͌̔d̮̠̺̺̝͌̎̈̍̔v̦̳̙͕̎̾̀̀̋ͣͬk͙̲̪͎͉͑ͣ̒ͩ͋j̣̪̝̏͋ͨͬ̇n̖j͈̺̜ͦ̆ͭ̋̽̂̿d̊͊a̼̥̼̾̇n̺͓̟͔ͮf̙n̳ͮ̽͌̏̀d̝͇ͦͧͭ̉̒̎ŝ͇̝͍̼͇͕̤͒̈́̾ä͈̝̲́͑ͧͫ͂j̟̼ͩ́̽f͆ͫ͌ͪ̀̂̎ṉ̭͕̤̥ͩ͂̐̎ͤͫ͗a͓͇̬̫͍̙͌̂  
̺̪̤͙̲̝͙̅̌g̯͐̊̋̎̀ͯͪd͔͖͇̰͖̘͛̒̾̾̄n̝͉̯̻̣̻͑ͭ  
͔̩̜̗̯̺ͫg̯̬̼̝̻ͤͅa̽̐̆̄n̓ͬ̂͑͛ͭk̎d͉̮̘̜̪̓͌̈́ͧ͂f͖̲̼̗͔͆̎͒ͅn͖̻̬͑̌̊̂͗̆ͥa̼̩͔̘ͮͥ̌ͧg̮̱͇ͣ̿̉͊̀̿a̠͙̜̰̠ͨ̑nͬp͙̪͕̲̠̝̠o̜̳͂͗̆͐͗ͦǵ͎͍͕͖͕ͧf̰̃͊̔̍͒ͩg̭͕ͤͪͭ̋̉o̺͆  
̝̪͍͈̼͍͋ͤ̾ͣṅ̤͉ͨ̋ͣa͖̱̫̓͆ͣͫ̒n̪̰͍̪̘̖̞̉ͯ̆ͮ̄ͣ̑ja͚̱̮̫͖̍̔͛̃̓̆̚n̑̉g͛ǹ̳͎̌͂͑ͭ̈́͒r̺͖̬͖̦͖̬̂e̤̜ͭͅi̳̐o͍̣̮̩͑̔ͦͥn̺̍̇̒g̝̘͉͉̫̣o̥̱̬ͥ̈́ͨͦà̻͍͎̻͔  
̗͈̬̺̬e̥̭͖̬̦̪ͮ̀̚r̬̤̩̬̻̲̦͒ͧͧ̚[̘̠̺͎̣̣̒͆ͬ͒ͩ̆̿  
̏͐͊̀͗r̿ͮ͗n̙̻͎̋̍͐͗s̬̪̭̙̦͖̬̈́̾̓̇ǰ̥͔̩̩ͭͨ̈ͫ̉ͦb͕͉͍́͂̆̿̏̐̚n̤̩̣̩̻̞̺̓́ͮ̈̉͊i̽ͧ̌͌͂̆r̮̜̺ͯͅo͚̺̟̓ͯ͒̽ͪ̌a̟̗̳g͖͓͉̦͉͙ͨń̘̩̭̘̻ͤ̑ͬ̍́m̜̱̯̜͔̮͚ͥ͆r̭̞͕̮̳ͅm̻̭̥ͫͯͩ̍ͅg͚̻̥͎̗̹͕͌͋͂͌ͤ  
͚̞͍͚̼̥̽̓̿́̌ͭ͆a̱͌͊͒͆̃ͫg͍͍̤͋̇̈́ͮ'̻̳̬̣̣͉̰ͭ̀ͧͧ̓̈́f̥̝ͤ͂͆̓̾a̞̲͕̭̦ĺ̮̣͖͓̙ͣ͐̓ͦ  
̝̦͙̳̠̱͆̊̋̅̈́̚ḣ̦͔ͯͮ̐̒b̤͒͋̓̍̒̏̏'̝̊̅͛͋̉  
̝̝̺̜̱̦̪̍̽̎ͦa̝̫͓̝̼ͤͨͨ͗̋̾n͛ͭ̉;̼͙̺̭̫̝̋/̙̍̏\͔̫̗̫̖̺̐  
̥̃ͪ̎ͣ̽͆ͣe̳͉̗̙̼͂́͛͌̂7͎̮̬͐ͮ̓͊͂ͫT̳̝̽̽ͣͅ\̠̖̦̯̥̲́ͯA͙̝͙͈̼͋ͩͦ̔;̲̝͓̼̮̦̖̓͂̋ͩͅg̚:̻̜͙͉̩͎̫̅  
̘̗̼̺̘̒ͭͪͮͧ̂̂d͇̥x̜̳̖̤̤̅̒̐̈́̉̆ͅ.͈̘̫̼̳͋̏̊̏G͎̥̟͈ͩ̆ͅB̮̊̌̾ͮ  
̺̳̀R͔̬̂ͨͪ̅͊ͩͅĒ̻̓̆̆ͬ͊̏/̝͓̼̙̥͉2͔̩̗̜͓̝͖͉̹̰ͪ̔Ý̭̙͉̜̦̪̄ͬ̍̋͑ͮÄ̗̯͔͚̤̠̖́̍̐͆/͓̘̖̯̯̣ͫͬͮ̄̉5͇̘͚ͯͧ̆  
̞̪̣̝͓̟̅̾̄͂̏̾r̮̻͗ͫ̎?̦͎̗͉͚̱ͅ^̘̣̝͉̻͕̹͒͗"̘̳͈̱̐͋̋ͮ.̱̲̮͉͖̤̔̆͑ͅH͓̥͕ͬ̎̇J̻̱̍̓̄͗̒Ṕ̚̚  
̣̹̪͓͈̍̚L̼̻͇̤̤͊̑͑̎̽̄͗]ͬ̔̚\͍̲̥̜̖͑̊͒̒̍̐ͧ'ͨ̔͂̋̇̚ͅ4̌ͤR̠͚̠̘̭̮̭  
̫͈̭̭͖͔̲̔ͤ̍̌ͤG̐͒̽B̥̬͉͎̼̞̠ͧf͈̤͈̯̠̅/̯̫͍̄͊͆ͦ͑ͫG̬̦̖͕ͅ/̥̦̝͍p̱͉̮͇͇͚[̫̳̱̗̼̥͖̋ͯͨ͂ė̝̥̬͖̘͓͙͒ͨ̄ͪ̈w̰̼̖k̮̈́g͚͗[̼̜͊̿̇ͤ]̰̲̥̝̭̲̻  
̺̦̱̈́͂ͫͥͧ̏t̹̳̤͎̫͙̞ͯ̀ͩͥ/̺̤̥͓̳̦ͮ̈́̇̿͌ͥ̚ͅp̽[̺͂ͨ̽ͯ̐k̙̘͈̟̦͔̩ͤ́̔̈́,͒̍́ṋ[ͨͮ̇ͤ]̙͖̑ͤ̓]͔̣  
̻͉̺̣̋̂ͬͪ͋ẘ̯̱̑ͮt̩̝̥͎ͩ͌ͤ̽ͣͮͪa͇̒ͦ͋/͂̈́̄͊.̺̇̀̈͒̑ͨ̌s̱͍͕̱̙͔͒͒͋ͯ̎̾d͕̱͈̦͋̂f̩̥͉̽͗̊̄̐ͩ̈́g̅m̼͔̩̬̳̖̝̾͒;̩̜̝̯̤̙̏ͩ̈͐͊ͅa̼͔̭̮̞͛̾̈̓͒̄̋\ͬͣ͗ͨ̓  
̻ͣͮͤ͗̓ ̹̯̘̣̹̀͂ͭͯ͐ͬ ̫̓͒̊a̗̝ͫȕ̩̘̺͈͇͐̆͂̇̈́ͮḟ͛ͮ͑̐ͅb̜̿ͥ͑̅͊ǔ̖̥͔̱͖͌ͥͅi̺̩͗̃s̠̩͚̓ͭ́̂̚d̟̟͖̠k͖̮̗̺̖͚͂ͅj͚n̺͉͖̟̽̆ä̊̀̀͑̓k̮̠̳̹͂͆̽ͤ͌ͦͮl̠̫̜̭͔̋ͩͨ̽r̭͓͉̬ͦ͋̽̒ͯn̦̠̟͌͑̿͋ȅ͍͖̙̥̜̾d͎͖̊̊̐̔͒̿v̱̞͈ͨ͗ͩ͗́n̹̠̩̫͓̦̬͋́̋͊ͯ ̝͕̣̙̱̘ď̤̬̲̬̯s̲̹̘̟̟̩̏̐̈̇n͓͖̳̈́͂̍̋ͫ͊ä̑ͬ̾͌ͦĵ̞̣̺̱̝̙͗v̗̣̼̼̹ͦn̥̤̼̙͕j͎̮͎͈̩̯̙a͍͚̹̯͊ͪͮ̎͆̍ͮn̤̞̣̹̄ͮ͛͐ͭś͕̹͇̲̼̥̲̏́d͓̟̥̣̽̉ͣ̾̿j̊͊̋̾nͤs̰͎͔̦̲̅ͬ̊̌f͖̹͈̝̗̘̗̑̈́ͣ̔̌ͦj̺k͉̺̣̙͒ͭ̓̓̂b̟̮̦̹̳̎ͭa̺͓̗̰̞̹͊k̻s̜̟ͧj̀̿̓ ̭ ͙̘͉̪͈v̾̆̅ͣ̊̄͛d̎͆s̠͈̎ͫǰ̭̤̲̠̼͙́ͤ͗ḳ̯͎̓ͬͥ̄̎̚̚ͅn̗̲ͮͫ͊̾v̺ͧ͗j͚̙̣̰̪̾̎̅͊̚k͙̭̍̿͆͆̈̔̈d̉s̺͚̱̾͌̔d̮̠̺̺̝͌̎̈̍̔v̦̳̙͕̎̾̀̀̋ͣͬk͙̲̪͎͉͑ͣ̒ͩ͋j̣̪̝̏͋ͨͬ̇n̖j͈̺̜ͦ̆ͭ̋̽̂̿d̊͊a̼̥̼̾̇n̺͓̟͔ͮf̙n̳ͮ̽͌̏̀d̝͇ͦͧͭ̉̒̎ŝ͇̝͍̼͇͕̤͒̈́̾ä͈̝̲́͑ͧͫ͂j̟̼ͩ́̽f͆ͫ͌ͪ̀̂̎ṉ̭͕̤̥ͩ͂̐̎ͤͫ͗a͓͇̬̫͍̙͌̂  
̺̪̤͙̲̝͙̅̌g̯͐̊̋̎̀ͯͪd͔͖͇̰͖̘͛̒̾̾̄n̝͉̯̻̣̻͑ͭ  
͔̩̜̗̯̺ͫg̯̬̼̝̻ͤͅa̽̐̆̄n̓ͬ̂͑͛ͭk̎d͉̮̘̜̪̓͌̈́ͧ͂f͖̲̼̗͔͆̎͒ͅn͖̻̬͑̌̊̂͗̆ͥa̼̩͔̘ͮͥ̌ͧg̮̱͇ͣ̿̉͊̀̿a̠͙̜̰̠ͨ̑nͬp͙̪͕̲̠̝̠o̜̳͂͗̆͐͗ͦǵ͎͍͕͖͕ͧf̰̃͊̔̍͒ͩg̭͕ͤͪͭ̋̉o̺͆  
̝̪͍͈̼͍͋ͤ̾ͣṅ̤͉ͨ̋ͣa͖̱̫̓͆ͣͫ̒n̪̰͍̪̘̖̞̉ͯ̆ͮ̄ͣ̑ja͚̱̮̫͖̍̔͛̃̓̆̚n̑̉g͛ǹ̳͎̌͂͑ͭ̈́͒r̺͖̬͖̦͖̬̂e̤̜ͭͅi̳̐o͍̣̮̩͑̔ͦͥn̺̍̇̒g̝̘͉͉̫̣o̥̱̬ͥ̈́ͨͦà̻͍͎̻͔  
̗͈̬̺̬e̥̭͖̬̦̪ͮ̀̚r̬̤̩̬̻̲̦͒ͧͧ̚[̘̠̺͎̣̣̒͆ͬ͒ͩ̆̿  
̏͐͊̀͗r̿ͮ͗n̙̻͎̋̍͐͗s̬̪̭̙̦͖̬̈́̾̓̇ǰ̥͔̩̩ͭͨ̈ͫ̉ͦb͕͉͍́͂̆̿̏̐̚n̤̩̣̩̻̞̺̓́ͮ̈̉͊i̽ͧ̌͌͂̆r̮̜̺ͯͅo͚̺̟̓ͯ͒̽ͪ̌a̟̗̳g͖͓͉̦͉͙ͨń̘̩̭̘̻ͤ̑ͬ̍́m̜̱̯̜͔̮͚ͥ͆r̭̞͕̮̳ͅm̻̭̥ͫͯͩ̍ͅg͚̻̥͎̗̹͕͌͋͂͌ͤ  
͚̞͍͚̼̥̽̓̿́̌ͭ͆a̱͌͊͒͆̃ͫg͍͍̤͋̇̈́ͮ'̻̳̬̣̣͉̰ͭ̀ͧͧ̓̈́f̥̝ͤ͂͆̓̾a̞̲͕̭̦ĺ̮̣͖͓̙ͣ͐̓ͦ  
̝̦͙̳̠̱͆̊̋̅̈́̚ḣ̦͔ͯͮ̐̒b̤͒͋̓̍̒̏̏'̝̊̅͛͋̉  
̝̝̺̜̱̦̪̍̽̎ͦa̝̫͓̝̼ͤͨͨ͗̋̾n͛ͭ̉;̼͙̺̭̫̝̋/̙̍̏\͔̫̗̫̖̺̐  
̥̃ͪ̎ͣ̽͆ͣe̳͉̗̙̼͂́͛͌̂7͎̮̬͐ͮ̓͊͂ͫT̳̝̽̽ͣͅ\̠̖̦̯̥̲́ͯA͙̝͙͈̼͋ͩͦ̔;̲̝͓̼̮̦̖̓͂̋ͩͅg̚:̻̜͙͉̩͎̫̅  
̘̗̼̺̘̒ͭͪͮͧ̂̂d͇̥x̜̳̖̤̤̅̒̐̈́̉̆ͅ.͈̘̫̼̳͋̏̊̏G͎̥̟͈ͩ̆ͅB̮̊̌̾ͮ  
̺̳̀R͔̬̂ͨͪ̅͊ͩͅĒ̻̓̆̆ͬ͊̏/̝͓̼̙̥͉2͔̩̗̜͓̝͖͉̹̰ͪ̔Ý̭̙͉̜̦̪̄ͬ̍̋͑ͮÄ̗̯͔͚̤̠̖́̍̐͆/͓̘̖̯̯̣ͫͬͮ̄̉5͇̘͚ͯͧ̆  
̞̪̣̝͓̟̅̾̄͂̏̾r̮̻͗ͫ̎?̦͎̗͉͚̱ͅ^̘̣̝͉̻͕̹͒͗"̘̳͈̱̐͋̋ͮ.̱̲̮͉͖̤̔̆͑ͅH͓̥͕ͬ̎̇J̻̱̍̓̄͗̒Ṕ̚̚  
̣̹̪͓͈̍̚L̼̻͇̤̤͊̑͑̎̽̄͗]ͬ̔̚\͍̲̥̜̖͑̊͒̒̍̐ͧ'ͨ̔͂̋̇̚ͅ4̌ͤR̠͚̠̘̭̮̭  
̫͈̭̭͖͔̲̔ͤ̍̌ͤG̐͒̽B̥̬͉͎̼̞̠ͧf͈̤͈̯̠̅/̯̫͍̄͊͆ͦ͑ͫG̬̦̖͕ͅ/̥̦̝͍p̱͉̮͇͇͚[̫̳̱̗̼̥͖̋ͯͨ͂ė̝̥̬͖̘͓͙͒ͨ̄ͪ̈w̰̼̖k̮̈́g͚͗[̼̜͊̿̇ͤ]̰̲̥̝̭̲̻  
̺̦̱̈́͂ͫͥͧ̏t̹̳̤͎̫͙̞ͯ̀ͩͥ/̺̤̥͓̳̦ͮ̈́̇̿͌ͥ̚ͅp̽[̺͂ͨ̽ͯ̐k̙̘͈̟̦͔̩ͤ́̔̈́,͒̍́ṋ[ͨͮ̇ͤ]̙͖̑ͤ̓]͔̣  
̻͉̺̣̋̂ͬͪ͋ẘ̯̱̑ͮt̩̝̥͎ͩ͌ͤ̽ͣͮͪa͇̒ͦ͋/͂̈́̄͊.̺̇̀̈͒̑ͨ̌s̱͍͕̱̙͔͒͒͋ͯ̎̾d͕̱͈̦͋̂f̩̥͉̽͗̊̄̐ͩ̈́g̅m̼͔̩̬̳̖̝̾͒;̩̜̝̯̤̙̏ͩ̈͐͊ͅa̼͔̭̮̞͛̾̈̓͒̄̋\ͬͣ͗ͨ̓  
̻ͣͮͤ͗̓ ̹̯̘̣̹̀͂ͭͯ͐ͬ ̫̓͒̊

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"What just happened?"

"I think our game just crashed."

"Wait- What?! What do you mean it crashed?!"

"Do the lines of corrupted gibberish text up there mean nothing to you?"

"Well yeah but... It can't just crash like that! We have a story to tell! Now what are you we gonna do?!"

"Do only thing we can do: Buy a new copy and start from scratch."

"Seriously?"

"Hey, it's the same game. We just have to wait a little longer to see what happens next."

"This still bites..."

"Sorry dude. Technical problems happen. Nothing we can do to stop it. Now where's Yu-chan? I promised her I'd help her with that history assignment."

"Yeah- Wait. What assignment?!"

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

 **It's been awhile since I've written one of these...**

 **Anyway, hello everyone! I know you're probably excited for the next chapter, and believe me, I want to bring it out as fast as I can, but due to several... complications, I'm putting this story on an official hiatus.**

 **True it technically already WAS on hiatus before I posted this, but I felt like I should at least tell you all. I'm probably gonna stay off of this story for a while, but don't worry, I will be back as soon as I can, once life starts cooling down and once I get a few other projects out...**

 **In the meantime, check out some of the others stories I know you probably read here. And if you're a fan of League of Legends, be on the lookout for a brand new story I'll be posting there soon! Till next time! And remember to be cool and be creative!**

 **Tchau!**


	11. Something Completely Different

" **And now for something completely different."**

 **PERSONA 3 THEATER  
"The Battle Between Great Men"  
Or  
"Why the boys aren't allowed to watch anime anymore."**

* * *

Ah~ It was a nice, peaceful night the SEES dorm.

Mitsuru was sitting in the living room, sipping a nice cup of tea with a good book in her hands. Yukari, Aigis and Fuuka were there as well, although their attention was more focused on the television. The boys had miraculously decided not to use it tonight, and so they figured they'd finally get to watch something decent that didn't involve a bunch of testosterone filled men beating the living snot out of each other.

Honestly, what kind of shows did those guys watch?

Ah yes, the night was quiet and peaceful. Absolutely nothing could possibly ruin this moment.

 **BOOM!**

Welp, it was nice while it lasted!

Mitsuru jumped, accidently spilling her tea onto her book, much to her dismay. The other girls seemed to have reacted to the explosion a very similar manner, with Fuuka and Yuakri letting out a shriek in surprise. The only one who didn't react so violently was Aigis, tilted her head in confusion at the sound.

"W-What was that?!" Yukari nearly yelled, hugging onto to Fuuka tightly. Aigis simply tilted her head upwards.

"The explosion appears to have come from the roof." She said before turning her attention towards Mitsuru. "Should I go and see what happened?" Mitsuru sighed before shaking her head.

"Save it." She muttered, reaching for a napkin. "I'll just get Akihiko or KL to check it out. It couldn't have been anything that extreme, or else the alarms would've gone off…"

"…Um… Now that you mention it Senpai…" Fuuka muttered, raising her hand slightly to get her senior's attention. "…Where _are_ the boys exactly?"

…

…

…

"…Ugh… Don't tell me they're doing something stupid again..."

"Very well then. Although there is a 99.99% chance that they are."

"Aigis you're not helping."

* * *

So what exactly is the "stupid thing" the boys are doing? Well…

"MWAHAHAHAHAHA!" Junpei laughed as he stood at the edge of the dorm rooftop, his arms spread out and his back leaned back so far it look like he'd have trouble standing up for the next few days. He had a dangerous look in his eye as he stared down his opponent. "You poor fool! Your attacks are all in vain! I am invincible! You pathetic abilities are no match for me!"

On the other side of the roof, DJ scoffed. His sunglasses were down over his eyes, so you couldn't see him glare at his opponent. "Yare Yare Daze~… You sure talk a big game. But none of your attacks barely left a scratch on me either."

"HAHA- Wha?"

"So-" DJ cracked his knuckles before letting his hands fall to his sides limply. "I'm gonna give you five seconds to surrender before I beat the living snot out you. Your choice." Junpei growled before scoffing.

"I'd like to see you try!" Junpei stood up straight and grabbed his Evoker from his holster. DJ just grinned before reaching for his own.

"With pleasure…"

 **BANG!**

"Orpheus!"

"Hermes!"

The two Persona stood high, glowing with a magical aura as they stood over there masters… Although they looked a bit… different. They looked shorter than usually and… since when was Orpheus's hair that long?

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

"OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

" _ **ORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORA!"**_

" _ **MUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDA!"**_

A few feet away from the two punch happy Persona users, a familiar white haired boxer, a man in a red coat, a child many years their junior and a dog sat behind a cardboard box.

What a cardboard box was doing on the roof, they had no idea, but it served as cover.

"The two of them are at it again…" Ken muttered as he watched the two Personas (and they're users) punch each other senselessly. "I thought we were supposed reenact Guren Lagaan today." Koromaru let out a bark of agreement as Akihiko simply sighed.

"I knew I shouldn't have given them that DVD of Jojo's Bizzare Adventure…" He muttered before shaking his head. "At least the having fun. Right Shinji?"

"…"

"Shinji?"

"…You are already dead."

"Eh?"

"Castor!"

In a burst of adrenaline, Akihiko shot up, grabbing Ken and Koromaru and jumping out of the way was Castor's lance came crashing down onto the poor cardboard box. The boxer growled as he dropped his younger teammates and glared at his brother.

"What the hell Shinji?!" He yelled as Ken panted in relief. "What are you doing?"

"What's it look like genius?" Shinjiro smirked at him, cracking his knuckles as Castor hovered over him. "Seeing those two beating each other senseless got me thinking about the good ol' days, ya know?" The look in Shinjiro's eye told Akihiko all he needed to know. "What do you say? One round for old time's sake?"

"..." Akihiko sighed before looking up to his brother with a smirk. "Do you even need to ask? You're already dead..."

 **BANG!**

 ** _"OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"_ **

_**"ATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATA!"**_

"Huh. Fist of the North Star. I always thought Akihiko-san was more of a fan of Hajime no Ippo." Ken muttered as he took out a bag of popcorn to watch the fist fight between the two brothers.

"Bark!"

"Yeah, I guess you're right boy. Just thought it was a it weird for him." He took some of the popcorn and gave it to the SEES mascot, who ate it up contently.

 _ **"MUDAMUDA-**_ OW! HEY WATCH WHERE YOU'RE FIGHTING! WE WERE HERE FIRST!"

"YEAH! THIS IS A BATTLE BETWEEN US TWO! LEAVE US ALONE!"

"YOU BOYS ASKING FOR A FIGHT?!"

"LET"S GO!"

Ken and Koromaru sweatdropped as the battle quickly escalated into a free-for-all, with personas and fist colliding against each other in a way Ken had though humanly impossible. Until now that is.

Yes, any other day he would've found this enjoyable...

But he felt a very large sense of dread boiling up in his stomach...

 **SLAM!**

 _ **"WHAT IS GOING ON HERE?!"**_

In a rather comical scenario, the four boys and there Persona's froze mid battle, each in the middle of some form of attack as the all turned to the doorway, where the person who interrupted them watched them with a glare that could freeze hell itself.

Simply put, Mitsuru Kirijo was not pleased.

"..." DJ immediately stopped biting Akihiko leg and raised his hands to the air. "It's not what it looks like!"

"KL..." She started as she walked towards the group, the other girls appearing behind her. "Might I ask why the four of you are beating each other senselessly with your personas out in the open?!"

"...Okay, so this _is_ what it looks like."

"We were just, uh..." Akihiko scratched the back of his head, although he still didn't release Junpei from his headlock. "Trying some new moves! Yeah! Just some late night training for when we head to Tartarus tomorrow!"

"You know you couldn't lie to me even if you tried Sanada."

Yikes. Last name alert. This was a code red.

"They were just trying to do some things from a couple of shows we watch Mitsuru-san." Ken said as he walked up to the redhead, his bag of popcorn still in hand. "Nothing to serious..." Mitsuru's eyes twitched before glaring at the four boys again.

"Shows?"

"Just a few animes we watch. No big deal." DJ said before being bonked on the head by both Akihiko and Shinjiro. "Ow! What was that for?!"

"...Are you saying that you guys almost killed yourselves just because you guys wanted to try some stuff from a bunch of dumb animes?!" Yukari nearly shrieked at them, only to get a stink eye from the boys.

"Hey! There not dumb! They can show us a bunch of new tricks!" Junpei argued back, DJ nodding in agreement.

"Yeah! Why just yesterday, I taught Orpheus how to do a Kamehameha!"

...

Noticing the blank stares he was getting, the DJ blushed and looked away. "Okay, so it's a work in progress..."

"Do you have any idea how dangerous this is?" Mitsuru sighed before pointing at the still present personas. "Not only are you putting yourselves at risk, but you also risk revealing personas to an unsuspecting public!"

"Oh relax!" DJ waved it off. "We've been doing this for weeks! No one's ever seen us up here before!"

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" A scream for the street caught there attention. The looked down from the roof, only to see a slightly aged man run away from the building. "It's the apocalypse! Giant aliens are abducting people! And they're starting with those kids! I knew this day would come! I knew I wasn't crazy! MWAHAHAHAHA!"

"...That is merely a coincidence." DJ said, as they all called back they're personas. "I doubt anyone's gonna believe him..."

"So you've been doing this for weeks without my knowledge?" She asked, concentrating on what DJ has said before... "...Ugh... Very well then, no more anime for any of you." She looked to the side to see Ken standing there, looking at her expectantly. "Except for Amada, because he's still a child and I couldn't deprive him of that."

"What?!" The four yelled as she turned around to leave.

"You can't be serious!"

"Come one, the finale of my favorite show is gonna be on tomorrow!"

"Tsk... You got to be kidding me..."

"Oh come on Mitsu-cha-!"

 **FREEZE!**

Mitsuru, now with her rapier out, walked up to the now large block of ice present on the roof, the boys frozen from their necks all the way down to their feet.

"Any more questions?" She asked.

"No ma'am." Was the monotonous reply.

Mitsuru smirked before turning around to face the girls, Ken and Koromaru. "That handles that."

"Finally." Yukari muttered. "Now we can finally get some rest with the worrying about the building collapsing on top of us."

"Bark bark!"

"Don't worry Koromaru! It would've been all those dumb boy's fault. We wouldn't blame you or Ken."

"We're definitely going to have to reconsider who keep's watch over Amada here, now that I think about it."

"Oh! I'm working on a new recipe! Maybe Ken would like to help me!"

"N-No thanks Fuuka-san. I'm good."

As the group walked away, the half frozen boys watched them with sour looks on their faces.

"Well that didn't go as I'd hope." DJ Muttered as he tried to break free from his icy prison.

"Give it up kid." Shinji muttered. "This thing is probably gonna hold till morning. We're gonna be stuck here all night."

"Great. Just great..."

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"Wanna try again at the park next week?"

"Ditto!"

"Of course!"

"I'll bring Ken and the dog."

* * *

 **FIN**

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

 **Hello everyone! Welcome to the Mattoon Corner!**

 **Wait, wrong file...**

 **Anyway, it's been a while since I published something, and before you ask, yes, this story is still on hiatus. I just wanted to post a little something special for you guys until I make new chapter.**

 **But that's actually something I wanted to talk about with you guys.**

 **In case you haven't noticed, this story is pretty much a step by step retelling of the game, almost down to a T. Which is why there are so many instances where I try to make it look like a videogame. The thing is, if I were to take every cutscene for every day and every social link in the game, this story would take _forever_ to finish.**

 **The last two chapters were my favorites to write because the were a lot more... "episodic" then the others. Which is the directing I'm gonna start writing this story now. It will still have an apparent videogame aspect to it, but by doing this, I can push the story forward without having to rewrite... well, what's essential a 60+ hour experience. :P**

 **I have one more thing to announce to you guys today though.**

 **It's something that has, admittedly, taken time away from writing, yes, but is also a very big project of mine. I've been working on this for a while and I only just recently got it started.**

 **Okay... Here goes...**

 **I have a YouTube channel!**

 ***Splat!**

 **...Where do you people get so many tomatoes?**

 **Look, I know you people don't owe me anything. Heck, if you've even made it this far into my story, you have my deepest gratitude. I'm just a poor guy living in Brazil with nothing but a computer, a crappy headset microphone and not a dollar to his name. I wanted to try to do something different with my life and, well, I just wanna try something new.**

 **The channel is called _"The Mattoon Corner"_. A place for reviews of games, cartoons and anime. All voiced, drawn and edited by yours truly. I'm a complete noob to this kind of stuff, so I know what you guys see is gonna be.. well, crap, but I'm really hoping to make this work. I'm going through a tough time right now, my mom's not exactly healthy, physically or mentally, and my whole family's trying to move out of the country, because of how hard things are around here so having some kind support on this project would help me out...**

 **Like I said, you don't owe me anything, but if you're willing to check it out, please do and spread the word around about it. Tell you're friends, and let's see if we can make this channel grow big!**

 **See you all next time. And remember to be cool and be creative.**


End file.
